英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

flee (v.)[flee 词源字典]: Old English fleon, flion "take flight, fly from, avoid, escape" (contracted class II strong verb; past tense fleah, past participle flogen), from Proto-Germanic *fleuhan "to run away" (cognates: Old High German fliohan, Old Norse flöja, Old Frisian flia, Dutch vlieden, German fliehen, Gothic þliuhan "to flee"), probably from PIE *pleuk-, extended form of root *pleu- "to flow" (see pluvial). Also compare fly (v.2).

Weak past tense and past participle fled emerged in Middle English under influence of Scandinavian. Old English had a transitive form, geflieman "put to flight, banish, drive away," which came in handy in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Related: fled; Fleeing.[flee etymology, flee origin, 英语词源]
fleece (v.): 1530s in the literal sense of "to strip (a sheep) of fleece," from fleece (n.). From 1570s in the figurative meaning "to cheat, swindle, strip of money." Related: Fleeced; fleecer; fleecing.
fleece (n.): "wool coat of a sheep," Old English fleos, flies "fleece, wool, fur, sealskin," from West Germanic *flusaz (cognates: Middle Dutch vluus, Dutch vlies, Middle High German vlius, German Vlies), which is of uncertain origin; probably from PIE *pleus- "to pluck," also "a feather, fleece" (cognates: Latin pluma "feather, down," Lithuanian plunksna "feather").
fleecy (adj.): 1560s, "woolly," from fleece (n.) + -y (2). From 1630s as "resembling fleece" in any sense (originally by Milton, of clouds).
fleer (v.): "grin mockingly," c. 1400, perhaps from Scandinavian (compare dialectal Norwegian flira "giggle, laugh at nothing," dialectal Danish flire "to grin, sneer, titter"). Transitive sense from 1620s. Related: Fleered; fleering; fleeringly. As a noun from c. 1600.
fleer (n.): "one who flees," late 14c., agent noun from flee (v.).
fleet (n.): Old English fleot "a ship, raft, floating vessel," also, collectively, "means of sea travel; boats generally," from fleotan "to float" (see fleet (v.)). Sense of "naval force, group of ships under one command" is in late Old English. The more usual Old English word was flota "a ship," also "a fleet; a sailor." The fleet for "the navy" is from 1712.

The Old English word also meant "estuary, inlet, flow of water," especially the one into the Thames near Ludgate Hill, which lent its name to Fleet Street (home of newspaper and magazine houses, standing for "the English press" since 1882), Fleet prison (long used for debtors), etc.
fleet (adj.): "swift," 1520s, but probably older than the record; apparently from or cognate with Old Norse fliotr "swift," from Proto-Germanic *fleuta, which is related to the source of fleet (v.). Related: Fleetness.
fleet (v.): Old English fleotan "to float; drift; flow, run (as water); swim; sail (of a ship)," from Proto-Germanic *fleutan (cognates: Old Frisian fliata, Old Saxon fliotan "to flow," Old High German fliozzan "to float, flow," German fliessen "to flow, run, trickle" (as water), Old Norse fliota "to float, flow"), from PIE root *pleu- "to flow, swim" (see pluvial).

Meaning "to glide away like a stream, vanish imperceptibly" is from c. 1200; hence "to fade, to vanish" (1570s). Related: Fleeted; fleeting.
fleeting (adj.): early 13c., "fickle, shifting, unstable," from Old English fleotende "floating, drifting," later "flying, moving swiftly," from present participle of fleotan "to float, drift, flow" (see fleet (v.)). Meaning "existing only briefly" is from 1560s. Related: Fleetingly.
Fleming (n.): from Old English Flæming "native or inhabitant of Flanders," from Old Dutch Vlaemingh, Old Frisian Fleming, both from Proto-Germanic *Flam- (see Flanders). The Germanic name was borrowed in Medieval Latin as Flamingus, hence Spanish Flamenco, Provençal Flamenc, etc. French has flandrin "a lanky lad" (15c.), originally a nickname of a Fleming, thence "any tall and meagre man," as they were thought to be [Kitchin].
Flemish (adj.): "pertaining to or native to Flanders," early 14c., flemmysshe, probably from Old Frisian Flemische, or a native formation from Fleming + -ish.
flense (v.): also flench, 1814, from Danish flense, perhaps, with other Germanic fli- words for "cutting, splitting" (for example flint, flinders) ultimately from PIE root *(s)plei- "to splice, split." Related: Flenser; flensing.
flesh (n.): Old English flæsc "flesh, meat, muscular parts of animal bodies; body (as opposed to soul)," also "living creatures," also "near kindred" (a sense now obsolete except in phrase flesh and blood), common West and North Germanic (compare Old Frisian flesk, Middle Low German vlees, German Fleisch "flesh," Old Norse flesk "pork, bacon"), which is of uncertain origin; according to Watkins, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *flaiskjan "piece of meat torn off," from PIE *pleik- "to tear."

Of fruits from 1570s. Figurative use for "carnal nature, animal or physical nature of man" (Old English) is from the Bible, especially Paul's use of Greek sarx, and this led to sense of "sensual appetites" (c. 1200).

Flesh-wound is from 1670s; flesh-color, the hue of "Caucasian" skin, is first recorded 1610s, described as a tint composed of "a light pink with a little yellow" [O'Neill, "Dyeing," 1862]. In the flesh "in a bodily form" (1650s) originally was of Jesus (Wyclif has up the flesh, Tindale after the flesh). An Old English poetry-word for "body" was flæsc-hama, literally "flesh-home." A religious tract from 1548 has fleshling "a sensual person." Flesh-company (1520s) was an old term for "sexual intercourse."
flesh (v.): 1520s, "to render (a hunting animal) eager for prey by rewarding it with flesh from a kill," with figurative extensions, from flesh (n.). Meaning "to clothe or embody with flesh," with figurative extensions, is from 1660s. Related: Fleshed; fleshing.
fleshless (adj.): 1580s, from flesh (n.) + -less.
fleshly (adj.): Old English flæsclic "corporeal, carnal;" see flesh (n.) + -ly (1).
fleshpot (n.): from flesh (n.) + pot (n.1); literally "pot in which flesh is boiled," hence "luxuries regarded with envy," especially in fleshpots of Egypt, from Exodus xvi:3:
Whan we sat by ye Flesh pottes, and had bred ynough to eate. [Coverdale translation, 1535]
fleshy (adj.): late 14c., "consisting of muscle and flesh," also "plump," from flesh (n.) + -y (2). Related: Fleshiness.
fletch (v.): "fit feathers to" (an arrow), 1650s, variant of fledge (v.) in sense "fit (an arrow) with feathers, altered by influence of fletcher. Related: Fletched; fletching.