Etymograph

English

flaw

Flaw comes from Middle English flawe.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flawe
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606flaw

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flawe
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606flaw

Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “This heart / Shall break into a hundred thousand…”

Every English word from Middle English flawe

Another origin of flaw

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-‘to beat, push, drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂g-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flahaną‘to beat, strike’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flagǭ‘a blow, hit, punch’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flagā‘blow, strike, pounding’reconstructed
  6. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500vlāgheuncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*flaughreconstructed
  8. Englishtodayflaw

Today it means

noun A flake, fragment, or shiver.

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

Etymograph / Middle English flawe / flaw

Shirt and support for this word