Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗To make something fluffy. · To become fluffy, puff up. · To move lightly like fluff. · To make a mistake in one's lines.
Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers. · Anything inconsequential or superficial. · A lapse or mistake, especially a mistake in an actor's lines. · A cloth diaper.
From earlier floow (“woolly substance, down, nap, lint”), also spelt flough, flue, and flew, from West Flemish vluwe, of uncertain ultimate origin: * Compare Old English flōh (“that which is flown off, fragment, piece”); see flaw * Possibly representing a blend of flue + puff; compare Middle Dutch vloe, or perhaps onomatopoeic; compare dialectal English floose, flooze, fleeze (“particles of wool or cotton; fluff; loose threads or fibres”), Danish fnug (“down, fluff”), Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”). * Alternatively, West Flemish vluwe may derive from French velu (“hairy, furry”), from Latin villūtus (“having shaggy hair”), from villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”). For words of similar sound and meaning in other languages, compare Japanese フワフワ (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”), Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”), Polish puchaty (“soft, fluffy”), Romanian puf (“down, peachfuzz, soft hair of some animals, powderpuff”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*h₂welh₁-ine-pro
- Derivation mentionvluwevls
- Cognate mentionflōhang · that which is flown off, fragment, piece
- Blend componentflueen
- Blend componentpuffen
- Cognate mentionvloedum
- Cognate mentionflooseen
- Cognate mentionfnugda · down, fluff
- Cognate mentionfnuggsv · speck, flake
- Cognate mentionvluwevls
- Derivation mentionvelufr · hairy, furry
- Derivation mentionvillūtusla · having shaggy hair
- Cognate mentionフワフワja
- Cognate mentionpuhahu
- Cognate mentionpufro
This page abbreviates 11 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
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"name": "root",
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"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*h₂welh₁-",
"id": "wool"
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{
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"expansion": "West Flemish vluwe"
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{
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"2": "flōh",
"t": "that which is flown off, fragment, piece"
},
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},
{
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"2": "flue",
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"2": "vloe"
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"expansion": "Middle Dutch vloe"
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"title": "onomatopoeic"
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{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "floose"
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"expansion": "English floose"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"1": "da",
"2": "fnug",
"t": "down, fluff"
},
"expansion": "Danish fnug (“down, fluff”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "fnugg",
"t": "speck, flake"
},
"expansion": "Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"expansion": "West Flemish vluwe"
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{
"name": "der",
"args": {
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"2": "fr",
"3": "velu",
"t": "hairy, furry"
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"expansion": "French velu (“hairy, furry”)"
},
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"3": "villūtus",
"t": "having shaggy hair"
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"expansion": "Latin villūtus (“having shaggy hair”)"
},
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"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ja",
"2": "フワフワ",
"3": "",
"4": "lightly, softly",
"tr": "fuwafuwa"
},
"expansion": "Japanese フワフワ (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "hu",
"2": "puha",
"3": "",
"4": "soft, fluffy"
},
"expansion": "Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ro",
"2": "puf",
"3": "",
"4": "down, peachfuzz, soft hair of some animals, powderpuff"
},
"expansion": "Romanian puf (“down, peachfuzz, soft hair of some animals, powderpuff”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"floow",
"floow#English"
],
[
"flough",
"flough#English"
],
[
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"flue#English"
],
[
"flew",
"flew#English"
],
[
"vluwe",
"vluwe#West_Flemish"
],
[
"flōh",
"floh#Old_English"
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[
"flaw",
"flaw#English"
],
[
"flue",
"flue#English"
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[
"puff",
"puff#English"
],
[
"vloe",
"vloe#Middle_Dutch"
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[
"floose",
"floose#English"
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[
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[
"fleeze",
"fleeze#English"
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[
"fnug",
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[
"fnugg",
"fnugg#Swedish"
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[
"vluwe",
"vluwe#West_Flemish"
],
[
"velu",
"velu#French"
],
[
"villūtus",
"villutus#Latin"
],
[
"villus",
"villus#Latin"
],
[
"フワフワ",
"フワフワ#Japanese"
],
[
"puha",
"puha#Hungarian"
],
[
"puchaty",
"puchaty#Polish"
],
[
"puf",
"puf#Romanian"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To make something fluffy.",
"To become fluffy, puff up.",
"To move lightly like fluff.",
"To make a mistake in one's lines."
],
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{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers.",
"Anything inconsequential or superficial.",
"A lapse or mistake, especially a mistake in an actor's lines.",
"A cloth diaper."
],
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