Where does “flayle” come from?
flayle (Middle English) comes from Old English fligel, from Old English flegel, from Proto-Germanic *flagil, from Latin flagellum, from Latin -lus, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
Ancestry of “flayle”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | fligel | — |
| 2 | Old English | flegel | flail |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | *flagil | — |
| 4 | Latin | flagellum | whip, lash, scourge; whip for driving animals;... |
| 5 | Latin | -lus | Alternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -elos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
Words derived from “flayle”