flank

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kleng-“to bend”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hlankaz“flexible, sleek, bendsome”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*hlanku“bend, curve, hip, flank”
4. Frankish · derived from*hlanca
5. Old French · derived fromflanc
6. Old English · inherited fromflanc“flank”
7. Middle English · inherited fromflanc
8. English todayflank

From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-West Germanic *hlanku (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”). Akin to Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle Low German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”). More at lank.

Words from the same roots