Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗To furnish or deck out with flags. · To mark with a flag, especially to indicate the importance of something. · To signal to, especially to stop a passing vehicle etc. · To convey (a message) by means of flag signals.
From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape. Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionflagenm
- Derivation mentionflageenm
- Derivation mentionflaggang
- Derivation mention*flakągem-pro · something flat
- Derivation mention*pleh₂-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionFlaggede
- Cognate mentionflaggasv
- Cognate mentionflagda
- Cognate mentionflackenenm
- Cognate mentionflögranon
- Cognate mentionflogarōngoh
- Cognate mentionflogezengoh
- Cognate mentionflakerenenm
- Cognate mentionflacorang
This page abbreviates 10 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.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "flag"
},
"expansion": "Middle English flag"
},
{
"name": "unc",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "uncertain"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "flage"
},
"expansion": "Middle English flage"
},
{
"name": "gloss",
"args": {
"1": "name for a baby's garment"
},
"expansion": "(name for a baby's garment)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "flagg"
},
"expansion": "Old English flagg"
},
{
"name": "onomatopoeic",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"title": "imitative"
},
"expansion": "imitative"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*flaką",
"t": "something flat"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pleh₂-",
"4": "",
"5": "flat, broad, plain"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Flagge",
"3": "",
"4": "flag"
},
"expansion": "German Flagge (“flag”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "flagga",
"3": "",
"4": "flag"
},
"expansion": "Swedish flagga (“flag”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "flag",
"3": "",
"4": "flag, ship's flag"
},
"expansion": "Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "flacken",
"3": "",
"4": "to flutter, palpitate"
},
"expansion": "Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Swedish"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "non",
"2": "flögra",
"3": "",
"4": "to flap about"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "flogarōn",
"3": "",
"4": "to flutter"
},
"expansion": "Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "flogezen",
"3": "",
"4": "to flutter, flicker"
},
"expansion": "Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "flakeren",
"3": "",
"4": "to move quickly to and fro"
},
"expansion": "Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "flacor",
"3": "",
"4": "fluttering, flying"
},
"expansion": "Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"flag",
"flag#Middle_English"
],
[
"flagge",
"flagge#Middle_English"
],
[
"flage",
"flage#Middle_English"
],
[
"flagg",
"flagg#Old_English"
],
[
"flacg",
"flacg#Old_English"
],
[
"cataplasm",
"cataplasm"
],
[
"poultice",
"poultice"
],
[
"plaster",
"plaster"
],
[
"*flaką",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/flaką"
],
[
"*pleh₂-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/pleh₂-"
],
[
"Flaage",
"Flaage#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"flagge",
"flagge#West_Frisian"
],
[
"vlag",
"vlag#Dutch"
],
[
"Flagge",
"Flagge#German"
],
[
"flagga",
"flagga#Swedish"
],
[
"flag",
"flag#Danish"
],
[
"flacken",
"flacken#Middle_English"
],
[
"flage",
"flage#Swedish"
],
[
"flögra",
"flögra#Old_Norse"
],
[
"flogarōn",
"flogaron#Old_High_German"
],
[
"flogezen",
"flogezen#Old_High_German"
],
[
"flakeren",
"flakeren#Middle_English"
],
[
"flacor",
"flacor#Old_English"
],
[
"flack",
"flack#English"
],
[
"flacker",
"flacker#English"
],
[
"flagpole",
"flagpole"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To furnish or deck out with flags.",
"To mark with a flag, especially to indicate the importance of something.",
"To signal to, especially to stop a passing vehicle etc.",
"To convey (a message) by means of flag signals."
],
"tags": [
"often",
"with-down"
],
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"rawRecordSha256": "2a9df4d03c7817a24e4da706ce058bb55e958f3459dbdf3deaa3401cf908dddf",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 157512
}
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"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 10,
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}