English
flagon
Flagon comes from Middle French flacon ‘flask’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600flacon‘flask’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flagon
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602flagon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600flacon‘flask’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flagon
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602flagon
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet: “A peſtilence on him for a madde rogue, a…”
The story
The English word is a doublet of flacon, flask, and fiasco.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
complex, apply, employment, reply, display, employ, explicit, exploit, imply, deploy, replica, implicit, fiasco, complicate, accomplice, ploy, complication, ply, inexplicable, complicity, supple, implicate, plexus, pliable, flax, flack, triplicate, supplication, pliant, explication, splay, 35 more
Today it means
noun A large vessel resembling a jug, usually with a handle, lid, and spout, for serving drinks such as cider or wine at a table; specifically (Christianity), such a vessel used to hold the wine for the ritual of Holy Communion.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / flagon