Etymograph

English

fleam

Fleam comes from Middle English fleme ‘a lancet or fleam’, from Old French fleume ‘phlegm’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to blaze, burn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-1‘to blaze, burn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pʰlegō1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφλέγω2‘to set on fire, inflame’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφλέγμα3‘flame, fire, heat’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphlegma3‘phlegm’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fleume4as flieme‘phlegm’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fleme4‘a lancet or fleam’
  8. Englishtodayfleam4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φλέγω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φλέγμα
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French fleume
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English fleam

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek φλέγω‘to blaze, burn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pʰlegōWiktionary, Ancient Greek φλέγωreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφλέγωWiktionary, Ancient Greek φλέγμα‘to set on fire, inflame’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφλέγμαWiktionary, Old French fleume‘flame, fire, heat’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphlegmaWiktionary, Old French fleume‘phlegm’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fleumeWiktionary, English fleamas flieme‘phlegm’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flemeWiktionary, English fleam‘a lancet or fleam’
  8. EnglishtodayfleamWiktionary, English fleam

The story

From Middle English fleme, fleom, from Old French flieme, flemie (‘open vein’), probably via a Proto-Germanic source (compare Old Saxon flēma, Old High German fliotuma, fliodema, Old English flȳtme (‘fleam, lancet’)), borrowed from Vulgar Latin fletoma, *fletomus, from Late Latin flebotomus, phlebotomus, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμον (phlebotómon).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to blaze, burn’

ball, bowl, bell, bull, bold, bald, boil, blaze, blush, blur, blizzard, flame, bolster, bale, budge, sabha, bleach, bola, blemish, phallus, blithe, blain, bolero, bleat, 70 more

through Ancient Greek φλέγω ‘to set on fire, inflame’

phlox, 5 more

through Ancient Greek φλέγμα ‘flame, fire, heat’

phlegmatic, 1 more

through Old French fleume ‘phlegm’

phlegm

Another origin of fleam

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-‘to fly’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flaumaz‘stream’uncertain
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150flēam‘fleeing’uncertain
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fleem‘the rushing of water’
  5. Englishtodayfleam

Today it means

noun A sharp instrument used to open a vein, to lance gums, or the like.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fleam”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek φλέγω, Ancient Greek φλέγμα, Old French fleume. 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 *bʰel- / fleam

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