"F" Word Origins

flax

Old English

From Old English fleax, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to plait."

flaxen

Origin

From Middle English flaxen, flexon, flexin, from Old English fleaxen (“of flax; flaxen”), equivalent to flax + -en (“made of”). Compare Dutch vlassen.

flay

Old English

From Old English flean, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to strip."

flea

Old English

From Old English flea, from a very old Germanic word for the insect.

fleabag

Origin

From "flea" + "bag," originally describing a shabby sleeping bag or bed likely infested with fleas.

fleabrain

Origin

From flea + brain.

fleak

Origin

A variant of flake (noun, verb).

fleck

Old Norse

From Old Norse flekkr ("spot"), related to German Fleck.

fledgling

Origin

From "fledge" ("to grow feathers needed for flight") + the diminutive suffix "-ling."

flee

Old English

From Old English fleon, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to flee" — distantly related to "fly."

fleece

Old English

From Old English fleos, referring to a sheep's coat of wool.

fleech

Origin

From Middle Dutch fletsen (“to flatter, fawn”). More at flatter.

fleed

Origin

Inflected forms.

fleet

Old English

From Old English fleot ("ship, vessel"), related to fleotan ("to float"). The adjective sense ("swift") grew out of the same root, via the idea of gliding smoothly.

fleeting

Old English

From the Old English verb fleotan ("to float, glide"); the sense shifted from physical gliding to something that slips past quickly in time.

Fleetwood

Old English

From Old English flēot (“pool, stream”) + wood.

Fleischman

German

From German "Fleisch" (meat) and "Mann" (man).

Fleming

Middle English

From Middle English flameng, tracing back through Old Norse and Middle Dutch forms tied to Flanders, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "flowing water" plus a suffix meaning "belonging to."

Flemish

Old English

From Old English flemisc, ultimately from the same Germanic root as "Flanders."

flesh

Old English

From Old English flaesc ("flesh, meat"), a very old Germanic word shared with German Fleisch and Dutch vlees.

flesher

Origin

From flesh (verb) + -er.

fleshlight

Origin

Genericized trademark, blend of flesh + flashlight.

fleshly

Origin

From Middle English fleschly, from Old English flǣsċlīċ; equivalent to flesh + -ly.

fleshmonger

Origin

From Middle English fleshmongere, from Old English flǣsċmangere; equivalent to flesh + monger.

fleshspace

Origin

From flesh + space.

fleshy

Origin

From flesh + the adjective-forming suffix -y.

fletch

Origin

A reworking of the older word fledge ("to grow feathers"), influenced by fletcher ("arrow-maker").

fletcher

Old French

From Old French flechier ("arrow-maker"), from fleche ("arrow"). It later became common as an English surname for people in that trade.

fleur

French

From French fleur ("flower"), an ellipsis of fleur-de-lis.

Fleury

French

Borrowed from French Fleury.

flew

Middle English

From Middle English flew, flow, from Old English flēag, flug-, from Proto-Germanic *flaug, *flug-, past tense forms of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”). Compare Saterland Frisian flooch (“flew”), West Frisian fleach (“flew”), Dutch vloog (“flew”), German flog (“flew”), Danish fløj (“flew”), Swedish flög (“flew”), Icelandic flaug (“flew”).

flex

Latin

From Latin flexus, the past participle of flectere ("to bend").

flexibility

Latin

From French flexibilite, ultimately from Latin flectere ("to bend").

flexible

Latin

From Latin flexibilis, from flectere ("to bend, curve").

flexile

Origin

From Latin flexil(em).

flexure

Origin

From Latin flexura. By surface analysis, flex + -ure

flibbertigibbet

Origin

From late Middle English [Term?] first attested 1549 probably imitative of nonsense uttered by gossips. Usage as an imp or fiend and name of the Devil from around 1603. Alternatively (but far less likely), an alteration of flibbergib (“toady, sycophant”), derived potentially from an Old Norse *fleipra-geipa(re) (“babbler of nonsense”). The hypothetical Old Norse term would have been a compound of fleipra (a variant of fleipa (“to babble, tattle”)), and geipa (“to talk nonsense, to boast”) or geipare (“one who speaks nonsense, braggart”). fleipa is notably the ancestor to the flip- part of the English word flippant. It is of note that the original meaning of flibbergib was “chatterer”.

flibustier

Origin

Borrowed from French flibustier.

flick

Middle English

From Middle English flykke, describing a light quick blow. The film sense comes from early movies visibly flickering due to low frame rates.

flicker

Old English

From Old English flicorian ("to flutter"), related to Old English fleogan ("to fly").

flight

Old English

From Old English flyht ("flight"), related to fleogan ("to fly"). The "running away" sense comes from the same root as "flee."

flightless

Origin

From flight + the suffix -less ("without").

flightling

Origin

From flight (“fleeing”) + -ling. Cognate with West Frisian flechtling (“refugee”), Dutch vluchteling (“refugee”), German Low German Flüchtling (“refugee”), German Flüchtling (“refugee”). Compare also Danish flygtning (“refugee”), Swedish flykting (“refugee”), Norwegian flyktning (“refugee”).

flighty

Origin

From flight + -y, originally describing something that flies easily, later extended to unpredictable people.

flimsy

Origin

Origin uncertain; possibly related to flim-flam ("nonsense, trickery") or a reshuffling of film ("thin layer") with the suffix -sy.

flinch

Middle French

From Middle French flenchir ("to bend"), of Germanic origin.

fling

Middle English

From Middle English fling, likely related to Old Norse words describing quick, forceful movement.

flint

Old English

From Old English flint, from Proto-Germanic roots meaning "to split" — reflecting how the stone fractures into sharp flakes.