Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “flavor” come from?

Flavor comes from Middle English flavour, from Old French flaour, from Vulgar Latin flator, from Latin flator meaning one who blows, derived from Latin flō meaning to blow, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰel- meaning to swell or blow.

flavor (English): The quality produced by the sensation of taste...

Definitions

  1. The quality produced by the sensation of taste...

Ancestry of “flavor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishflavour—
2Old Frenchflaoursmell, odour
3Vulgar Latinflatorodour, that which blows; second-person singular...
4Latinflātor—
5Latinflō—
6Proto-Italicflāō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰleh₁-to bleat; to cry; to blow
8Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰel-to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to...
9Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰōl-—

Words derived from “flavor”

  • flavorful
  • flavorless
  • flavorsome
  • flavory
  • flavorist
  • flavorer
  • flavorfully
  • flavorlessness
  • flavorwise
  • flavourlessness
  • flavorsomely
  • flavorlessly
  • flavourlessly
  • deflavorize
  • unflavorsome
  • flavorsomeness
  • flavorize
  • flavorizer
  • flavordynamics
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰōl- →