English
flea
Flea comes from Middle English fle, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *flauhaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flauhazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flauhreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150flēah
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fle
- Englishearliest quotation 1861flea
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flauhazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flauhreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150flēah
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fle
- Englishearliest quotation 1861flea
Earliest quotation: 1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist: “I have seen a Lubra, or native woman, suckling…”
The story
The archaic plural fleen is from Middle English fleen, flen, from Old English flēan (‘fleas’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *plews-
Today it means
noun A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *flauhaz / flea