Etymograph

English

flan

Flan may come from French flan ‘cheesecake, custard tart, flan’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- ‘to spread, extend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleth₂-1‘to spread, extend’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*flaþō2reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfladonem2
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400flaon1
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentflan1‘flan, sweet pudding’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentflan1‘cheesecake, custard tart, flan’uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2004flan1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English flan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French flaon
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Shawn Blore, Alexandra de Vries: “The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleth₂-Wiktionary, English flan‘to spread, extend’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*flaþōWiktionary, Old French flaonreconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfladonemWiktionary, Old French flaon
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400flaonWiktionary, English flan
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentflanWiktionary, English flan‘flan, sweet pudding’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentflanWiktionary, English flan‘cheesecake, custard tart, flan’uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2004flanWiktionary, English flan. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Shawn Blore, Alexandra de Vries: “The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes…”

The story

Borrowed around 1846 from French flan (‘cheesecake, custard tart, flan’), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (‘pie; cake’)), from Late Latin fladō (‘flat cake’), from Frankish *flaþō (‘flat cake’), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (‘broad, flat’); compare German Fladen. Although the -n is generally believed to derive from the Late Latin accusative form (fladonem) of fladō (‘flat cake’), it might alternatively derive from an inflected form of the Frankish word (such as the Frankish accusative *flaþan, or the like).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. For a similar case, see garden.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- ‘to spread, extend’

plate, plane, flat, platinum, plaza, lateral, piazza, plat, plantain, plaice, 15 more

Today it means

noun A baked tart with a sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “flan”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French flaon. 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 *pleth₂- / flan

Shirt and support for this word