Where does “flake” come from?

Flake comes from Middle English flake, from Old English flacca, a word of unknown origin and meaning.

flake (English): A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of...

Definitions

  1. A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of...

Ancestry of “flake”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishflakea flake of snow
2Old Norseflakloose or torn piece
3Proto-Germanicflakąsomething flat
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₂-flat

Words derived from “flake

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₂-