English
flehman
Flehman 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’
- Englishtodayflehman
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Upper Saxon Germanmodernflemmen‘to look spiteful’
- Germanc. 1650–presentflehmen‘to flehm, to exhibit the flehmen response’
- Englishtodayflehman
The story
Respelled apparently under the influence of the common name-ending -man, due to the mistaken belief that the word (used in compounds like flehmen response) was an eponym. The term is sometimes capitalized (Flehmen, Flehman) for the same reason).
Every English word from Upper Saxon German flemmen
Today it means
noun —
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Upper Saxon German flemmen / flehman