English
flue
Flue comes from Middle English flowen ‘to spout or trickle’, from Old English flōwan ‘to flow’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flōaną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flōaną‘to flow’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flōan‘to flow’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150flōwan‘to flow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flowenas flue‘to spout or trickle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1815flue
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flōaną‘to flow’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flōan‘to flow’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150flōwan‘to flow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flowenas flue‘to spout or trickle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1815flue
Earliest quotation: 1815, Robertson Buchanan, A Treatise on the Economy of Fuel: “It has frequently been a subject of inquiry, whether…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to flow, swim’
fly, flew, pneumonia, plough, plutonium, fowl, plover, flay, plutocracy, 22 more
through Old English flōwan ‘to flow’
flowing, flown, overflow, 1 more
through Middle English flowen ‘to spout or trickle’
Today it means
noun A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *flōaną / flue