An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/fließen

by Friedrich Kluge

fließen, vb., ‘to flow, stream,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlieȥen, OHG. flioȥȥan, str. vb.; corresponds to OSax. fliotan, Du. vlieten, AS. fleótan, E. to fleet, OIc. fljóta, Goth. *fliutan, ‘to flow.’ The Teut. root fliut, flut, from pre-Teut. pleud-plud, corresponds to Lett. pludêt, ‘to float,’ plûdi, inundation,’ Lith. plústi, ‘to take to swimming,’ plûdìs, ‘floating wood.’ Several Teut. terms for ‘ships’ point to the latter sense, which, of course, is earlier than the ModHG. ‘flowing,’ though in OHG. MidHG. and ModHG., fließen signifies ‘to be driven by flowing water, to swim.’ See Floß, Flotte (Flut, Goth. flôdus, is not a cognate). Instead of the root plud, other Aryan languages have an allied shorter root plu; comp. Gr. πλέω, ‘to navigate, swim,’ Sans. plu, pru, ‘to swim,’ Lat. pluere, ‘to rain’ (fließen in a restricted sense).