English
flee
Flee comes from Middle English flen ‘to flee’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fleuhaną‘to flee’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fleuhan‘to flee’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150flēon‘to flee’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flen‘to flee’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611flee
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fleuhaną‘to flee’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fleuhan‘to flee’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150flēon‘to flee’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flen‘to flee’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611flee
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the…”
The story
Within English, related to fly and more distantly to flow.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘to fly, flow, run’
fly, flown, flew, flock, fowler, fowl, floss, fogle, 10 more
through Middle English flen ‘to flee’
Today it means
verb To run away; to escape.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną / flee