Etymograph

English

beflee

Beflee comes from Old English beflēon ‘to flee from, flee, escape, avoid’, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘to fly, flow, run’, and perhaps ultimately from *plew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-1‘flow’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plewk-1‘to fly, flow, run’uncertainenlargement of *plew-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fleuhaną2‘to flee’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fleuhan2‘to flee’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150flēon3‘to flee’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150beflēon4‘to flee from, flee, escape, avoid’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500biflen4
  8. Englishtodaybeflee4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English fleon
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English befleon
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English beflee

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, which cites Kroonen‘flow’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plewk-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, which cites Kroonen‘to fly, flow, run’uncertainenlargement of *plew-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fleuhanąWiktionary, Old English fleon‘to flee’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fleuhanWiktionary, Old English fleon‘to flee’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150flēonWiktionary, Old English befleon‘to flee’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150beflēonWiktionary, English beflee‘to flee from, flee, escape, avoid’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500biflenWiktionary, English beflee
  8. EnglishtodaybefleeWiktionary, English beflee

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘flow’

flow, pneumonia, plutonium, plough, plover, flue, plutocracy, 23 more

through Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘to fly, flow, run’

fly, flown, flew, flock, fowler, fowl, floss, flay, fogle, 9 more

Today it means

verb To flee from; flee; avoid; shun.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “beflee”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, Old English fleon, Old English befleon. 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 *plew- / beflee

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