An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Flucht

by Friedrich Kluge

Flucht, feminine, ‘flight, escape, refuge; row, floor,’ the equivalent Middle High German vluht, Old High German and Old Saxon fluht, feminine, a verbal abstract from fliehen; Dutch vlugt, Anglo-Saxon flyht, English flight; Gothic *þlaúhti-, ‘flight,’ is wanting, for which þlauhi- occurs. In Old Icelandic flótte, masculine, ‘flight,’ pointing to Gothic þlaúhta. The verbal abstract of fliegen might in Scandinavian and West Teutonic coincide with this word; in fact, Anglo-Saxon flyht, English flight, and Dutch vlugt signify both ‘fleeing’ and ‘flying.’ See fliegen with respect to this confusion.