Etymology of flail

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

verb

To beat using a flail or similar implement. · To wave or swing vigorously · To thresh. · To move like a flail.

noun

A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle (handstock) with a shorter stick (swipple or swingle) attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material. · A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain. · Part of a rotating device, often used for cutting vegetation.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English flayle, from earlier fleil, fleyl, fleȝȝl, from Old English fligel, *flegel (“flail”), from Proto-West Germanic *flagil, of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots flail (“a thresher's flail”), West Frisian fleil, flaaiel (“flail”), Dutch vlegel (“flail”), German Flegel (“flail”). Possibly a native Germanic word from Proto-Germanic *flagilaz (“whip”), from Proto-Germanic *flag-, *flah- (“to whip, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- (“to beat, hit, strike; weep”); compare Old Norse flaga (“sudden attack, bout”), Lithuanian plàkti (“to whip, lash, flog”), Ancient Greek πληγνύναι (plēgnúnai, “strike, hit, encounter”), Latin plangō (“lament”, i.e. “beat one's breast”) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). If so, related also to English flag, flack, flacker. Alternatively, Proto-West Germanic *flagil may be an early borrowing of Latin flagellum (“winnowing tool, thresher”), diminutive of flagrum (“scourge, whip”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlag-, *bʰlaǵ- (“to beat”); compare Old Norse blekkja (“to beat, mistreat”). Compare also Old French flael (“flail”), Walloon flayea (“flail”) (locally pronounced "flai"), Italian flagello (“scourge, whip, plague”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionflayleenm
Inherited-form mentionfligelang
Inherited-form mention*flagilgmw-pro
Cognate mentionflailsco · a thresher's flail
Cognate mentionfleilfy
Cognate mentionvlegelnl · flail
Cognate mentionFlegelde · flail
Derivation mention*flagilazgem-pro · whip
Derivation mention*flag-gem-pro
Derivation mention*pleh₂k-ine-pro · to beat, hit, strike; weep
Cognate mentionflaganon · sudden attack, bout
Cognate mentionplàktilt · to whip, lash, flog
Cognate mentionπληγνύναιgrc · strike, hit, encounter
Cognate mentionplangōla · lament”, i.e. “beat one's breast
Derivation mention*-ilazgem-pro
Derivation mentionflagellumla · winnowing tool, thresher
Derivation mention*bʰlag-ine-pro
Cognate mentionblekkjanon · to beat, mistreat
Cognate mentionflaelfro · flail
Cognate mentionflayeawa · flail
Cognate mentionflagelloit

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": "flayle"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English flayle"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "fligel"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English fligel"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*flagil"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *flagil"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "flail",
        "t": "a thresher's flail"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots flail (“a thresher's flail”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "fleil"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian fleil"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "vlegel",
        "t": "flail"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch vlegel (“flail”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Flegel",
        "t": "flail"
      },
      "expansion": "German Flegel (“flail”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*flagilaz",
        "t": "whip"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *flagilaz (“whip”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*flag-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *flag-"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*pleh₂k-",
        "t": "to beat, hit, strike; weep"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- (“to beat, hit, strike; weep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "flaga",
        "t": "sudden attack, bout"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse flaga (“sudden attack, bout”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "plàkti",
        "t": "to whip, lash, flog"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian plàkti (“to whip, lash, flog”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "πληγνύναι",
        "t": "strike, hit, encounter"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek πληγνύναι (plēgnúnai, “strike, hit, encounter”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "plangō",
        "t": "lament”, i.e. “beat one's breast"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin plangō (“lament”, i.e. “beat one's breast”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*-ilaz",
        "pos": "instrumental suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix)"
    },
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "flag"
      },
      "expansion": "English flag"
    },
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "*flagil"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *flagil"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "flagellum",
        "t": "winnowing tool, thresher"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin flagellum (“winnowing tool, thresher”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰlag-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰlag-"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "blekkja",
        "t": "to beat, mistreat"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse blekkja (“to beat, mistreat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "flael",
        "t": "flail"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French flael (“flail”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "wa",
        "2": "flayea",
        "t": "flail"
      },
      "expansion": "Walloon flayea (“flail”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "it",
        "2": "flagello",
        "3": "",
        "4": "scourge, whip, plague"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian flagello (“scourge, whip, plague”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "flayle",
      "flayle#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fleil",
      "fleil#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fleyl",
      "fleyl#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fleȝȝl",
      "fleȝȝl#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fligel",
      "fligel#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*flegel",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/flegel"
    ],
    [
      "*flagil",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/flagil"
    ],
    [
      "flail",
      "flail#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "fleil",
      "fleil#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "flaaiel",
      "flaaiel#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "vlegel",
      "vlegel#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Flegel",
      "Flegel#German"
    ],
    [
      "*flagilaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/flagilaz"
    ],
    [
      "*flag-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/flag-"
    ],
    [
      "*flah-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/flah-"
    ],
    [
      "*pleh₂k-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/pleh₂k-"
    ],
    [
      "flaga",
      "flaga#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "plàkti",
      "plakti#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "πληγνύναι",
      "πληγνύναι#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "plangō",
      "plango#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*-ilaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-ilaz"
    ],
    [
      "flag",
      "flag#English"
    ],
    [
      "flack",
      "flack#English"
    ],
    [
      "flacker",
      "flacker#English"
    ],
    [
      "*flagil",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/flagil"
    ],
    [
      "flagellum",
      "flagellum#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "flagrum",
      "flagrum#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*bʰlag-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰlag-"
    ],
    [
      "*bʰlaǵ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰlaǵ-"
    ],
    [
      "blekkja",
      "blekkja#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "flael",
      "flael#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "flayea",
      "flayea#Walloon"
    ],
    [
      "flagello",
      "flagello#Italian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To beat using a flail or similar implement.",
        "To wave or swing vigorously",
        "To thresh.",
        "To move like a flail."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "6408e12b29e53eec266435b9fc90720675f177f1622d8365f615181485c4b108",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f066d004b963fe4801c36b9c7b9188bd7afbc885019d20a3339973a2990788bd",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 305446
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle (handstock) with a shorter stick (swipple or swingle) attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.",
        "A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.",
        "Part of a rotating device, often used for cutting vegetation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "often",
        "plural"
      ],
      "recordId": "ffdb269e04fd98aea1e259ccc4b7c75dbeb62773767cf72db445b7b22551df49",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f224962e9cb7afc43910b43df2c14b71f192872ed9218de4d54026c7e42a93a3",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 305445
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

The source etymologies

Unnumbered source etymology

Relationships mentioned by the source

Where this record stops

Source and snapshot