Where does “flex” come from?

Flex comes from Latin flexus, the past participle of flectere, which derives from Proto-Italic flektō, meaning to bend or turn.

flex (English): Flexibility, pliancy; The or an act of flexing;...

Definitions

  1. Flexibility, pliancy; The or an act of flexing;...

Ancestry of “flex”, step by step

flex traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German flexibel

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanflexibelflexible
2Latinflexibilisflexible, pliant, able to be bent; tractable,...
3Latin-bilis-ble
4Proto-Italic-ðlisForms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on
5Proto-Indo-European-dʰlis
6Proto-Indo-European-dʰlomAlternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...

via Latin flexus

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinflexusa bending, turning, winding; a transition,...
2Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
3Proto-Italic-tus
4Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “flex

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlomEvery word from Latin -bilisEvery word from Latin flexibilis