English
fylfot
Fylfot may come from Middle English fillen ‘to fill’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fillen‘to fill’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1914fylfot
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fillen‘to fill’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1914fylfot
Earliest quotation: 1914, Ernest Bramah: “Then look at that jade fylfot charm pawned for…”
A compound of fyllan + fot ‘foot’
Proto-Indo-European *ped- ‘to walk, to step’
Proto-Indo-European *pṓds ‘foot’
Proto-Germanic *fōts ‘foot’
Proto-West Germanic *fōt ‘foot’
Old English fot ‘foot’
The story
Uncertain, but likely from Middle English fillen (‘to fill’) (from Old English fyllan) + fot (‘foot’) (from Old English fōt), in reference to its use as a design to be placed at the bottom of stained-glass windows.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Middle English fillen ‘to fill’
Today it means
noun A swastika, especially one with the arms bent in an anticlockwise direction.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English fillen / fylfot