Etymology

flit

F4L1I1T1

Today it means: A fluttering or darting movement. Full definition →

Middle English flitten ← Old Norse flytja ← Proto-Germanic *flutjaną
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flit · noun, verb, adjective1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*plewd-“to flow; run”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*flutjaną
  3. Old Norse · derived fromflytja“to move”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromflitten
  5. English todayflit

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).

flit · noun2

Short for fl(ow control un)it or fl(ow control dig)it.

Words from the same roots

Old Norseflytja all →

flitter

Proto-Indo-European*plewd- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.