Etymograph

English

floe

Floe may come from Norwegian Nynorsk flo ‘layer, slab’.

  1. Norwegian Nynorskmodernflo1‘layer, slab’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1989floe1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English floe
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, Jeff MacInnis, Braving the Northwest Passage: “We could never pause when hauling through current-driven slush…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Norwegian NynorskmodernfloWiktionary, English floe‘layer, slab’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1989floeWiktionary, English floe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, Jeff MacInnis, Braving the Northwest Passage: “We could never pause when hauling through current-driven slush…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’

field, explain, plane, explanation, plain, floor, palm, clan, archipelago, explanatory, playa, placenta, planar, parma, fluke, palatine, esplanade, placate, plantar, implacable, pelagic, lech, flounder, veld, polonium, llano, flay, planta, purdah, 49 more

Today it means

noun A low, flat mass of floating ice.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “floe”. 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 / Norwegian Nynorsk flo / floe

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