English
filly
Filly comes from Old Norse fylja ‘a filly’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, little’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-‘few, little’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Norsec. 800–1350fylja‘a filly’
- Englishearliest quotation 1994filly
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-‘few, little’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Norsec. 800–1350fylja‘a filly’
- Englishearliest quotation 1994filly
Earliest quotation: 1994, Susie Day, Wake Up and Smell the Lubricant: “Betty Lou began to think of Bobby Jo. That…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, little’
few, poor, fewer, pose, pause, puppy, puppet, pupil, pediatrics, pave, pedagogy, menopausal, paucity, pupa, orthopedics, posada, puerile, 31 more
Today it means
noun A young female horse.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- / filly