flaw

flaw · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*plok-“broad, flat”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*flagō“a layer of soil”
3. Old Norse · derived fromflaga“a flag or slab of stone, flake”
4. Middle English · inherited fromflawe
5. English todayflaw

From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh (“a fragment, piece”).

flaw · noun²

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*flagǭ“blow, strike”
2. Old Norse · derived fromflaga
3. Swedish · derived fromflaga“gust of wind”
4. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*flagā
5. Middle Low German · derived fromvlāge
6. Middle Dutch · derived fromvlāghe
7. Middle English · inherited from*flaugh
8. English todayflaw

From Middle English *flaugh, from Middle Dutch vlāghe or Middle Low German vlāge, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *flagā. Or, possibly of North Germanic origin, from Swedish flaga (“gust of wind”), from Old Norse flaga; all from Proto-Germanic *flagǭ (“blow, strike”). See modern Dutch vlaag (“gust of wind”).

Words from the same roots