Etymology

flattery

flat·te·ry
F4L1A1T1T1E1R1Y4

Today it means: Excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour. Full definition →

Middle English flaterye ← Old French flaterie
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

flattery · noun1

  1. Old French · derived fromflaterie
  2. Middle English · inherited fromflaterye
  3. English todayflattery

From Middle English flaterye, flaterie, from Old French flaterie, from the verb flater (“to flatter”). By surface analysis, flatter + -y (forming abstract nouns).

Flattery · proper noun2

  1. Irish · borrowed fromÓ Flaithre
  2. English todayFlattery

Borrowed from Irish Ó Flaithre.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.