Etymograph

English

flea

Flea comes from Middle English fle, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *plews-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plews-1uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūlex2uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flauhaz3reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flauh3reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150flēah3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fle3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1861flea3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pulex
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *flauhaz
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English flea
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist: “I have seen a Lubra, or native woman, suckling…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plews-Wiktionary, Latin pulexuncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūlexWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *flauhazuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flauhazWiktionary, English fleareconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flauhWiktionary, English fleareconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150flēahWiktionary, English flea
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fleWiktionary, English flea
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1861fleaWiktionary, English flea. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist: “I have seen a Lubra, or native woman, suckling…”

The story

The archaic plural fleen is from Middle English fleen, flen, from Old English flēan (‘fleas’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plews-

fleece, 4 more

Today it means

noun A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “flea”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin pulex, Proto-Germanic *flauhaz. 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 *plews- / flea

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