Where does “flake” come from?

flake (Middle English) comes from Old Norse flak, from Proto-Germanic flaką, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₂- — flat.

flake (Middle English): a flake of snow

Definitions

  1. a flake of snow

Ancestry of “flake”, step by step

flake traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old Norse flak

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norseflakloose or torn piece
2Proto-Germanicflakąsomething flat
3Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₂-flat

via Old English flacca

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishflacca—

Words derived from “flake”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₂- →