English
deflux
Deflux comes from Latin dēfluō ‘to flow or run down’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH- ‘to overflow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlewH-1‘to overflow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰluH-yé-ti1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfluō1‘flow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēfluō2as defluere‘to flow or run down’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdefluxus2
- Englishearliest quotation 1627deflux2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin defluo
- 2 Wiktionary, English deflux
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, VII. Century.: “The cause is a temperate conglutination ; for both…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰlewH-Wiktionary, Latin defluo‘to overflow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰluH-yé-tiWiktionary, Latin defluouncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfluōWiktionary, Latin defluo‘flow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēfluōWiktionary, English defluxas defluere‘to flow or run down’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdefluxusWiktionary, English deflux
- Englishearliest quotation 1627defluxWiktionary, English deflux. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, VII. Century.: “The cause is a temperate conglutination ; for both…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰluH-yé-ti
through Latin fluō ‘flow’
influence, fluid, fluent, influx, confluence, fluctuate, fluency, fluctuation, affluence, fluorine, flume, fluvial, fluorite, fluor, 26 more
Today it means
noun downward flow
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “deflux”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin defluo. 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- / deflux