flag

flag · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pleh₂-“flat, broad, plain”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*flaką“something flat”
3. Old English · derived fromflagg
4. Middle English · derived fromflage
5. Middle English · inherited fromflag
6. English todayflag

From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape. Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.

flag · verb²

1. Middle English · derived fromflacken
2. English todayflag

Perhaps from a variant of flack (“to hang loose”), from Middle English flacken; or perhaps from Old Norse. Compare Middle Dutch flaggheren, vlaggheren (“to droop, flag”).

flag · noun³

1. Middle English · inherited fromflagge
2. English todayflag

From Middle English flagge, of uncertain origin, perhaps from North Germanic; compare Danish flæg (“yellow iris”). Or, possibly from sense 1, referring to its motion in the wind. Compare also Dutch vlag.

flag · noun, verb⁴

1. Middle English · inherited fromflag
2. English todayflag

From Middle English flag, flagge, probably of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin; compare Icelandic flag.

Words from the same roots