Etymograph

English

flother

Flother may come from Old English *flōdor ‘channel’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*flōdor‘channel’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1809flother

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*flōdor‘channel’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1809flother

Earliest quotation: 1809, Thomas Donaldson, Poems: “Ye windy, rhymin', bleth'rin hash, Ye'll tak in woo'…”

The story

The English Place-Name Society suggests that the word (at least in the sense "bog") derives from Old English *flōdor (‘channel’), related to flōd (‘flowing; stream; flood’), and the DSL too speculates that the word (and its synonymous Scots cognate, attested since 1611) might be related to Scots flude, English flood. Alternatively, it might be related to Scots fluther, English flutter.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. Perhaps also compare floter (‘float’). Dialect dictionaries record several other (now rare or otherwise unattested) senses, including "nonsensical talk" (which is more often found in the form vlother) and "snowflake".

Every English word from Old English *flōdor

Today it means

noun A miry bog.

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

Etymograph / Old English *flōdor / flother

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