Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “flume” come from?

Flume comes from Middle English flum, from Old French flun, from Latin flumen meaning "river," derived from the verb fluo meaning "to flow," ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root bʰel- meaning "to swell or flow."

flume (English): A ravine or gorge, usually one with water running...

Definitions

  1. A ravine or gorge, usually one with water running...

Ancestry of “flume”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishflum—
2Old Frenchflumriver
3LatinFlūmen—
4Latinfluō—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰléh₁-—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰel-to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰōl-—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰōl- →