name for certain heretics, late 14c. (in Chaucer, Loller, c. 1386), from Middle Dutch lollaerd, applied pejoratively to members of reforming sects c. 1300 who devoted themselves to the care of the sick and poor, literally "mumbler, mutterer," so called by critics who regarded them as heretics pretending to humble piety, from lollen "to mumble or doze." Generic late Middle English term for groups suspected of heresy, especially followers of John Wyclif.
