Etymology

flite

F4L1I1T1E1

Today it means: a quarrel, dispute, wrangling. Full definition →

Middle English flyt ← Old English flit ← Proto-West Germanic *flit n
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flite · noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*flit n
  2. Old English · inherited fromflit
  3. Middle English · inherited fromflyt
  4. English todayflite

From Middle English flyt, flit, iflit, ȝeflit, from Old English flit, ġeflit (“strife, contention”), from Proto-West Germanic *flit n; related to Proto-West Germanic *flīt m, from Proto-Germanic *flītaz (“zeal, striving, diligence”). The term in Old English had a short vowel, so the long vowel in the modern term was likely influenced by the verb (see below). Cognate with Scots flyte (“scolding, chiding, reproof”), Saterland Frisian Fliet (“zeal, diligence”), Dutch vlijt (“zeal, diligence”), German Low German Fliet (“zeal, diligence”), German Fleiß (“zeal, diligence”), Danish flid (“zeal, diligence”), Swedish flit (“zeal, diligence”).

flite · verb2

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*flītan“to strive, contend”
  2. Old English · inherited fromflītan“to strive, contend”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromflyten“to argue, quarrel”
  4. English todayflite

From Middle English flyten (“to argue, quarrel”), from Old English flītan (“to strive, contend”), from Proto-West Germanic *flītan (“to strive, contend”). Akin to German befleissen (“to apply oneself diligently, endeavor”), Swedish beflita (“to apply to, study”), Norwegian Bokmål beflitte (“to endeavour, strive”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.