Etymograph

English

flaunt

Flaunt comes from English flakka ‘to waver’.

  1. English1500–presentflakka‘to waver’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611flaunt

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentflakka‘to waver’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611flaunt

Earliest quotation: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “Should I , in these my borrow'd flaunts, behold…”

The story

Perhaps related to Norwegian flanta (‘to show off, wander about’), Icelandic flana (‘to rush about, act rashly or heedlessly’) and then also to French flâner (‘to wander around, loiter’). Alternatively, it could be related to Swedish flankt (‘loosely, flutteringly’) (compare English flaunt-a-flaunt), from flanka (‘waver, hang and wave about, ramble’), a nasalised variant of flakka (‘to waver’), related to Middle English flacken (‘to move to and fro, flutter, palpitate’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Every English word from English flakka

Today it means

verb To wave or flutter smartly in the wind.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / English flakka / flaunt

Shirt and support for this word