fleogan

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fleugan, from Proto-Germanic *fleuganą, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk-.

Cognate with Old Frisian fliāga (West Frisian fleane), Old Saxon fliogan (Low German flegen), Old Dutch fliogan (Dutch vliegen), Old High German fliogan (German fliegen), Old Norse fljúga (Swedish flyga). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Lithuanian plaũkti (swim).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfle͜oː.ɡɑn/, [ˈfle͜oː.ɣɑn]

Verb

flēogan

  1. to fly
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints
      Efne þā on middere nihte wearþ myċel eorþstyrung, and godes enċġel flēah fǣrlīċe tō þām cwearterne...
      Behold! then, at midnight, there was a great earthquake, and the angel of god flew suddenly to the prison...
  2. (figurative, by extension) to move quickly

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: flien, fleȝhenn, flyyn, fleye, flye, fliȝe, flei, fley, flyen, fleen, flen
    • English: fly
    • Scots: fle
    • Yola: vlee

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

fleog +‎ -an, related to fleoidhte (flabby, flaccid).[1]

Noun

fleogan m (genitive singular fleogain)

  1. untidy person
  2. flabby person
  3. any flatfish
  4. sole (fish)
  5. fluke
  6. flounder

Synonyms

  • (flounder): fleog, pacach-cearr, garbag, lèabag, lèabag-ghlas, leathag, leathag fìor-uisge

References

  1. ^ MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “fleogan”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language[1], Stirling, →ISBN