Where does “flexbone” come from?

flexbone (English) comes from English wishbone, from English Bône, from Middle English bon, from Old English bān, from Arabic بان, from Ottoman Turkish بان, from Ottoman Turkish باڭ, from Persian بنگ — henbane.

flexbone (English): A formation involving three running backs in which a fullback is lined up behind the quarterback and two slotbacks are lined up behind the line of scrimmage at each end of the offensive line

Definitions

  1. A formation involving three running backs in which a fullback is lined up behind the quarterback and two slotbacks are lined up behind the line of scrimmage at each end of the offensive line

Ancestry of “flexbone”, step by step

flexbone traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English wishbone

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishwishboneA forked bone between the neck and breast of a...
2EnglishBônenow known as Annaba
3Middle Englishbonbone
4Old Englishbānbone, tusk; the bone of a limb
5Arabicبانto separate, to become distinct, to sunder; to be...
6Ottoman Turkishبانban; keeper, tender, ward; ben tree, horseradish...
7Ottoman Turkishباڭ
8Persianبنگhashish, narcotic made from "Cannabis sativa";...
9Middle Persian𐭡𐭭𐭢henbane

via English flexible

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishflexibleCapable of being flexed or bent without breaking;...
2Middle Frenchflexible
3Latinflexibilisflexible, pliant, able to be bent; tractable,...
4Latin-bilis-ble
5Proto-Italic-ðlisForms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on
6Proto-Indo-European-dʰlis
7Proto-Indo-European-dʰlomAlternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...
Every word from Middle Persian 𐭡𐭭𐭢