Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “flop” come from?

Flop is a back-formation from the English acronym FLOP, which stands for floating-point operation, a computing term.

flop (English): To fall heavily due to lack of energy; To cause...

Definitions

  1. To fall heavily due to lack of energy; To cause...

Ancestry of “flop”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishflapAnything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or...
2Middle Englishflap—

Words derived from “flop”

  • floppy
  • flophouse
  • preflop
  • flopper
  • floppiness
  • postflop
  • petaflop
  • teraflop
  • kerflop
  • bellyflop
  • gigaflop
  • floppily
  • flopover
  • aflop
  • superfloppy
  • flopless
  • mini-floppy
  • pre-flop
  • micro-floppy
  • flopwing
  • flop sweat
  • kiloflop
  • backflop
  • flopdom
Every word from Middle English flap →