Etymograph

English

fley

Fley comes from Old English flīeġan ‘to put to flight, disperse’, from Proto-Germanic *flaugijaną ‘to let fly, cause to fly’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘flow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-1‘flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plewk-1‘to fly, flow, run’reconstructedenlargement of *plew-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fleuganą2‘to fly’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flaugijaną2‘to let fly, cause to fly’reconstructedcausative of *fleuganą
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150flīeġan3‘to put to flight, disperse’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fleyen3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1860fley3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fleuganą
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English fliegan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English fley
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1860, James Phillips Kay, Scarsdale; or: “The Jack O'Lanthron was among the reeds again last…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fleuganą‘flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plewk-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fleuganą‘to fly, flow, run’reconstructedenlargement of *plew-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fleuganąWiktionary, Old English fliegan‘to fly’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flaugijanąWiktionary, Old English fliegan‘to let fly, cause to fly’reconstructedcausative of *fleuganą
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150flīeġanWiktionary, English fley‘to put to flight, disperse’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fleyenWiktionary, English fley
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1860fleyWiktionary, English fley. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1860, James Phillips Kay, Scarsdale; or: “The Jack O'Lanthron was among the reeds again last…”

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’

flock, fowler, flee, floss, fogle, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *fleuganą ‘to fly’

flight, fly, flown, flew, fowl, 3 more

through Old English flīeġan ‘to put to flight, disperse’

flay

Today it means

verb To frighten.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fley”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *fleuganą, Old English fliegan. 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- / fley

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