Where does “ontvlooien” come from?

ontvlooien (Dutch) comes from Dutch vlo, from Middle Dutch vlô, from Old Dutch flō, from Proto-West Germanic flauh, from Proto-Germanic flauhaz, from Proto-Indo-European plówkos, from Proto-Indo-European plúsis — flea.

ontvlooien (Dutch): to deflea

Definitions

  1. to deflea

Ancestry of “ontvlooien”, step by step

ontvlooien traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Dutch vlo

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1DutchvloA flea, insect of the order Siphonaptera
2Middle Dutchvlô
3Old Dutchflōflea
4Proto-West Germanicflauhflea
5Proto-Germanicflauhazflea
6Proto-Indo-Europeanplówkos
7Proto-Indo-Europeanplúsisflea

via Dutch ont- -en

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Dutchont- -enForms transitive verbs from nouns, meaning "to remove (noun) from, to rid of (noun), to de-(noun)"
Every word from Proto-Indo-European plúsis