English
flehm
Flehm comes from German flehmen ‘to flehm, to exhibit the flehmen response’, and goes back to Upper Saxon German flemmen ‘to look spiteful’.
- Upper Saxon Germanmodernflemmen‘to look spiteful’
- Germanc. 1650–presentflehmen‘to flehm, to exhibit the flehmen response’
- Englishtodayflehm
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Upper Saxon Germanmodernflemmen‘to look spiteful’
- Germanc. 1650–presentflehmen‘to flehm, to exhibit the flehmen response’
- Englishtodayflehm
Every English word from Upper Saxon German flemmen
Today it means
verb To exhibit the flehmen response, i.e., to draw back the lips, allowing scent to reach the Jacobson’s organ, an auxiliary olfactory organ found in many animals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Upper Saxon German flemmen / flehm