Where does “flower” come from?
Flower comes from English flow, Chinese 兒, Latin florem, Latin -are, Latin -arius, and Proto-Indo-European bʰel-.
flower (English): A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with...
Definitions
- A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with...
Ancestry of “flower”, step by step
flower traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English flour
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | flour | A flower; A depiction or likeness of a flower;... |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | flur | Alternative form of flor |
| 3 | Old French | flor | flower |
| 4 | Latin | flōs | flower, blossom |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | flōs | flower, blossom |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃-s | flower, blossom |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |
via English flow
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | flow | A movement in people or things with a particular... |
| 2 | Middle English | flowen | To flow, stream, or issue; to move; To become... |
| 3 | Old English | flōwan | to flow |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *flōan | to flow |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | flōaną | to flow |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | plōw- | to flow, swim; to pour, wash |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | plew- | to fly, flow, run |
via Middle English flo
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | flo | An arrow, especially one used with a long bow;... |
| 2 | Old English | flā | — |
| 3 | Old English | flān | barb, arrow, javelin, dart |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | flainaz | hook, prong, speartip, ord |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | pleyn- | metal arrow, spear-head, hook; metal arrow, hook,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)pel- | to split in two, split in half; to speak with a... |