Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/114

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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).

Fliete, f., ‘fleam, lancet,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vliete, vlieten, OHG. flietuma; further derived from Gr. and MidLat. phlebotomum, ‘lancet, an instrument for opening veins,’ whence also the equiv. cognates AS. flŷtme, Fr. flamme, E. fleam, Du. vlijm.

flimmern, vb., ‘to glimmer, sparkle, scintillate,’ like the older ModHG. flimmen, a derivative, by gradation, of Flamme.

flink, adj., ‘brisk, nimble, lively,’ simply ModHG. from LG. and Du. flink, ‘brisk, agile, nimble’; akin to earlier ModHG. flinken, ‘to glitter, shine’; comp. Gr. ἀργός, ‘gleaming, quick.’

Flinte, f., ‘flintlock, gun, musket,’ first used in the 17th cent.; comp. Dan. flint, ‘musket’; probably akin to Swed. flinta, Dan. flint, ‘stone,’ prop. ‘flint-stone.’ Du. and E. preserve older terms — Du. vuurroer, ModHG. Feuerrohr, E. firelock. Flint, ‘stone,’ AS. and E. flint, whence Fr. flin, ‘thunderstone,’ is probably related to Gr. πλίνθος, ‘brick.’

Flitter, m., ‘spangle, tinsel,’ simply ModHG.; orig. ‘a small thin tin coin’; akin to MidHG. gevlitter, ‘secret laughter, tittering,’ vlittern, vb., ‘to whisper, titter,’ OHG. flitarezzen, ‘to coax in a flattering manner’; MidE. fliteren, ‘to flutter,’ E. flittermouse. The root idea is ‘unsteady motion,’ upon which ModHG. Flitter is based. With the meaning of OHG. flitarezzen, ‘to flatter, fondle,’ as well as ModHG. flïtern, ‘to whisper, titter,’ is connected Flitterwoche, f., which first occurs in early ModHG. The following foreign terms are interesting: — Scand. hjúnóttsmánaþr, lit. ‘a month of the nuptial night’; Dan. hvedebrodsdage, lit. ‘wheat-bread days’; E. honeymoon, derived from the Scand. word?, or rather formed from the Romance phrases, such as Fr. lune de miel, Ital. luna di miele.

Flitzbogen, m., ‘crossbow,’ first occurs in early ModHG. from LG.; comp. Du. flitsboog, ‘crossbow,’ from Du. flits, ‘javelin’; hence Fr. flèche, ‘arrow,’ and its Romance cognates are probably derived.

Flocke, f., ‘flake, flock (of wool), flue,’ from MidHG. vlocke, m., ‘flake, snowflake,’ OHG. floccho; comp. Du. vlok, Dan. flokke, Swed. flokka, E. (not in AS.) flock,

but OIc. flóke, ‘flock (of hair, wool, &c.).’ The supposition that the word was borrowed from Lat. floccus is hardly worth considering, since the HG. word is recorded even in the OHG. period, and gives no support to such a derivation (yet comp. Flaum). Besides many possible roots exist within the Teut. group, either in fliegen (Teut. root flugh, from pre-Teut. plugh) or in AS. flacor, ‘flying’ (see flackern); on account of OIc. flóke, the latter is to be preferred. E. flock, ‘herd,’ is beside the mark; like OIc. flokkr, ‘herd, flock,’ and AS. flocc, it almost certainly belongs to fliegen, and probably signified orig. ‘a swarm of flying creatures’ (Kette, ‘covey,’ on the other hand, meant prop. ‘any kind of herd’).

Floh, m., ‘flea,’ from MidHG. vlôch, vlô, m., f., OHG. flôh, m.; a common Teut. term; comp. Du. floo, AS. fleáh, E. flea, OIc. fló. It probably means ‘fugitive,’ and is akin to fliehen; hence a Goth. *þláuhs, not *fláuhs, is to be assumed. But even if *fláuhs is the Goth. form, it cannot be connected with either Gr. Ψύλλα or Lat. pulex, since neither vowels nor consonants are in accord. Fliegen too is unrelated, since the final sound of its stem is g only, and not h.

Flor, m., ‘gauze, crape, bloom,’ ModHG. only; formed from Du. floers; akin to MidHG. floier, ‘headdress with dangling ribbons’ (comp. Schleier)?, flôrsen, ‘adornment, finery’?.

Florin, m., ‘florin,’ from late MidHG. flôrîn, m., ‘a gold coin first made in Florence, and stamped with a lily, the armorial bearings of the town’ (appeared about the middle of the 14th cent.); MidLat. florinus, from flos, ‘flower’; Ital. fiore.

Floskel, f., ‘flourish, showy phrase,’ simply late ModHG., from Lat. floscellus.

Flosse, f., from the equiv. MidHG. vloȥȥe, OHG. floȥȥa, f., ‘float; Floßfeder, ‘fin,’ even in MidHG. vloȥvëdere, in OSax. simply fëthara, ‘float,’ like Gr. πτέρυξ, ‘feather, float,’ Lat. pinna, ‘feather, float.’ See Finne. Flosse, akin to fließen, ‘to float.’

Floß, n., ‘float, raft, buoy, stream, fishing-net,’ from MidHG. vlôȥ, OHG. flôȥ, m., n., ‘raft,’ also in MidHG. and OHG. in the senses ‘current, flood, river’; Du. vlot, ‘raft’; comp. AS. fleót, n., ‘ship,’ E. fleet, AS. flota, ‘ship’ (also ‘mariner, sailor’), E. float, subst. and verb; note too AS. flŷte, ‘cream, flos lactis,’ with which E. to fleet (‘to skim’) is connected, LG. flot, ‘cream’;