Etymograph

English

afflux

Afflux comes from Latin affluō ‘to flow, run or float to, towards or in’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH- ‘to overflow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlewH-1‘to overflow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰluH-yé-ti1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfluō1‘flow’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaffluō2as affluĕre‘to flow, run or float to, towards or in’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1874afflux2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin affluo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English afflux
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1874, "Chemical News from Foreign Sources: “The vis viva of these affluxes is employed almost…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlewH-Wiktionary, Latin affluo‘to overflow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰluH-yé-tiWiktionary, Latin affluouncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfluōWiktionary, Latin affluo‘flow’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaffluōWiktionary, English affluxas affluĕre‘to flow, run or float to, towards or in’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1874affluxWiktionary, English afflux. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1874, "Chemical News from Foreign Sources: “The vis viva of these affluxes is employed almost…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰluH-yé-ti

fluidity, confluent, 25 more

through Latin fluō ‘flow’

influence, fluid, fluent, influx, confluence, fluctuate, fluency, fluctuation, fluorine, flume, fluvial, fluorite, fluor, 27 more

Today it means

noun An upward rush of fluid.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “afflux”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin affluo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH- / afflux

Shirt and support for this word