English
flounder
Flounder comes from Old Northern French flondre, from Proto-Germanic *flunþrijǭ ‘flounder, flatfish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl-n̥-h₂-tro-mreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flunþrą‘something flat’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flunþrijǭ‘flounder, flatfish’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350flyðra
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400flondre
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400floundre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flowndre
- Englishearliest quotation 1851flounder
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl-n̥-h₂-tro-mreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flunþrą‘something flat’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flunþrijǭ‘flounder, flatfish’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350flyðra
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400flondre
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400floundre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flowndre
- Englishearliest quotation 1851flounder
Earliest quotation: 1851, Anne Cobbett, The English Housekeeper: “Water Souchy. Eels, whitings, soles, flounders, and mackerel are…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’
field, explain, plane, floor, explanation, plain, palm, clan, archipelago, explanatory, playa, placenta, planar, parma, fluke, palatine, placate, plantar, esplanade, implacable, pelagic, lech, polonium, veld, flay, llano, planta, purdah, floe, 49 more
Another origin of flounder
- Dutchc. 1500–presentflodderen‘wade’
- Englishtodayflounder
Today it means
noun A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder (Platichthys flesus).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / flounder