Humpty Dumpty

Meanings

1. A nursery rhyme character who falls from a wall and breaks irreparably in the manner of an egg; (figurative) by extension, anything similarly fragile, irreparably damaged, or insecure, precariously at risk of such irreparable damage.

1. A Romani drink of ale boiled with brandy.

Etymology

Possibly baby talk forms of Humphrey, since Dump and Dumphrey have been recorded as pet forms of this given name. Various suggestions have been offered for the original meaning of the nursery rhyme, chiefly concerning the English Civil War, although none has received general acceptance- modern scholars believe it may have been intended to be a riddle, with the answer of "an egg".