英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

flaneur (n.)[flaneur 词源字典]: "habitual loafer, idle man about town," 1854, from French flâneur, from flâner "to stroll, loaf, saunter," probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse flana "to wander aimlessly," Norwegian flana, flanta "to gad about"), perhaps from PIE *pele- (2) "flat, to spread." Related: flânerie.[flaneur etymology, flaneur origin, 英语词源]
flange (n.): 1680s, "a widening or branching out," of unknown origin, perhaps related to Old French flanche "flank, hip, side," fem. of flanc (see flank (n.)). Meaning "projecting rim, etc., used for strength or guidance" is from 1735. As a verb from 1820.
flank (n.): late Old English flanc "flank, fleshy part of the side," from Old French flanc "hip, side," from Frankish or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hlanca- (cognates: Old High German (h)lanca, Middle High German lanke "hip joint," German lenken "to bend, turn aside;" Old English hlanc "loose and empty, slender, flaccid;" Old Norse hlykkr "a bend, noose, loop"), from PIE root *kleng- "to bend, turn" (see link (n.)). Showing characteristic change of Germanic hl- to Romanic fl-. The military sense is first attested 1540s. Meaning "side" of anything is by 1620s. As an adjective, "pertaining to the flank or side," 1660s. Related: Flanked; flanking.
flank (v.): 1590s (military), "to guard the flank," also, "to menace the flank, fire sideways upon," from flank (n.). Meaning "stand or be placed at the side of" is from 1650s. Related: Flanked; flanking.
flanker (n.): 1550s, from flank (n.).
flannel (n.): "warm, loosely woven woolen stuff," c. 1300, flaunneol, probably related to Middle English flanen "sackcloth" (c. 1400); by Skeat and others traced to Welsh gwlanen "woolen cloth," from gwlan "wool," from Celtic *wlana, from PIE *wele- (1) "wool" (see wool). "As flannel was already in the 16th c. a well-known production of Wales, a Welsh origin for the word seems antecedently likely" [OED].

The Welsh origin is not a universally accepted etymology, due to the sound changes involved; Barnhart, Gamillscheg, Diez suggest the English word is from an Anglo-French diminutive of Old French flaine "a kind of coarse wool." Modern French flanelle is a 17c. borrowing from English.
flap (n.): mid-14c., flappe "a blow, slap, buffet," probably imitative of the sound of striking. Sense of "device for slapping or striking" is from early 15c. Meaning "something that hangs down" is first recorded 1520s, probably from flap (v.). Sense of "motion or noise like a bird's wing" is 1774; meaning "disturbance, noisy tumult" is 1916, British slang.
flap (v.): early 14c., "dash about, shake, beat (the wings);" later "strike, hit" (mid-14c.); probably ultimately imitative. Meaning "to swing about loosely" is from 1520s. Related: Flapped; flapping.
flapdoodle (n.): 1833, originally "the stuff they feed fools on" [Marryat]; probably an arbitrary formation from elements meant to sound ridiculous, perhaps with allusions to flap "a stroke, blow" and doodle "fool, simpleton."
flapjack (n.): pre-1600, from flap (v.) + jack (n.), using the personal name in its "generic object" sense. So called from the process of baking it by flipping and catching it in the griddle when done on one side.
flapper (n.): 1560s, "one who or that which flaps," agent noun from flap (v.). Sense of "forward young woman" is 1921 slang, but the exact connection is disputed. Perhaps from flapper "young wild-duck or partridge" (1747), with reference to flapping wings while learning to fly, many late 19c. examples of which are listed in Wright's "English Dialect Dictionary" (1900), including one that defines it as "A young partridge unable to fly. Applied in joke to a girl of the bread-and-butter age."

Other suggested sources include a late 19c. northern English dialectal use of the word for "teen-age girl" (on notion of one with the hair not yet put up), or an earlier meaning "prostitute" (1889), which is perhaps from dialectal flap "young woman of loose character" (1610s). Any or all of these might have converged in the 1920s sense. Wright also has flappy, of persons, "wild, unsteady, flighty," with the note that it also was "Applied to a person's character, as 'a flappy lass,'" and further on he lists flappy sket (n.) "an immoral woman." In Britain the word took on political tones in reference to the debate over voting rights.
"Flapper" is the popular press catch-word for an adult woman worker, aged twenty-one to thirty, when it is a question of giving her the vote under the same conditions as men of the same age. ["Punch," Nov. 30, 1927]
flare (v.): 1540s, "spread out" (hair), of unknown origin, perhaps from Scandinavian or from Dutch vlederen. Meaning "shine out with a sudden light" is from 1630s. The notion of "spreading out in display" is behind the notion of "spreading gradually outward" (1640s). Related: Flared; flaring.
flare (n.): "a giving off of a bright, unsteady light," 1814, from flare (v.). This led to the sense of "signal fire" (1883). The astronomy sense is from 1937. Meaning "a gradual widening or spreading" is from 1910; hence flares "flared trousers" (1964).
flare-up (n.): "a sudden burst," 1827 of an argument; 1858 of light, from verbal phrase; see flare (v.) + up (adv.). It seems to have had some vogue as a street expression in London in the 1830s.
Flare up! flare up! is all the cry, in every square and street --
No other sound salutes your ear, whoe'er you chance to meet
Where'er you ride, or walk, or sit, or breakfast, dine, or sup,
They welcome you or quiz you with "Flare up, my boy! flare up!"

[Fraser's Magazine," April 1834]
flash (v.): Middle English flashen, flasken (c. 1200), "sprinkle or splash (water, powder, etc.); to gush forth;" probably at least partly imitative (compare splash, dash). from c. 1400, of birds, "to dart or flit" also, of fire, "burst into flames." Some of the extended senses perhaps are from Scandinavian. Meanings "burst suddenly into view" (intransitive) and "emit or send forth suddenly" (transitive) are from 1580s. the Sense of "expose the genitals" is recorded by 1846. Related: Flashed; flashing. Flash card is from 1923.
flash (n.1): 1560s, "sudden burst of flame or light," from flash (v.); originally of lightning. Figuratively (of wit, laughter, anger, etc.) from c. 1600. Meaning "period occupied by a flash, very short time" is from 1620s. Sense of "superficial brilliancy" is from 1670s. Meaning "first news report" is from 1857. The comic book character dates to 1940. Meaning "photographic lamp" is from 1913. Flash cube (remember those?) is from 1965.

Flash in the pan (1704 literal, 1705 figurative) is from old-style firearms, where the powder might ignite in the pan but fail to spark the main charge; hence figurative sense "brilliant outburst followed by failure."
flash (n.2): "sudden rush of water," 1660s, earlier "watery place or marsh, a swamp" (c. 1400; in place names from c. 1300), of uncertain origin or connection to flash (n.1); perhaps from Old French flache, from Middle Dutch vlacke. Flash flood is from 1940.
flash (adj.): from flash (v.) in various and unconnected senses, often slang; sense of "of or associated with thieves, prostitutes, etc." is from c. 1700. That of "vulgar, showy" is from 1785 (it is older in flashy). That of "expert, smart" is from 1812.
flash-point (n.): also flashpoint, "temperature at which vapor will ignite momentarily," 1869, from flash (v.) + point (n.). Figurative use by 1955. Slightly earlier as flashing-point (1867).
flashback (n.): also flash-back, 1903 in reference to fires in engines or furnaces, from verbal phrase (1902), from flash (v.) + back (adv.). Movie plot device sense is from 1916. The hallucinogenic drug sense is attested in psychological literature from 1970, which means probably hippies were using it a few years before.