English
floss
Floss may come from French floche ‘tuft of wool’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English floss
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2003, Vladimir Bogdanov, Backbeat Books: “As the label's name no doubt implies, these rappers…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentflocheWiktionary, English floss‘tuft of wool’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2003flossWiktionary, English floss. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2003, Vladimir Bogdanov, Backbeat Books: “As the label's name no doubt implies, these rappers…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘hair, fibres, tuft’
fly, flew, fowler, flee, flown, fowl, flay, fogle, 9 more
through Latin floccus ‘piece of wool’
Another origin of floss
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500vlacke‘a flat area, plain’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400flacheuncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flosche‘a watery or marshy place, swamp’
- English1500–presentflosh‘a flush, stream of water, sluice’
- Englishtodayfloss
From dialectal flosh (‘a flush, stream of water, sluice’), from Middle English flosche, flusche, flasche, flaske (‘a watery or marshy place, swamp’), perhaps from Old French flache, from Middle Dutch vlacke (‘a flat area, plain’), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *fleutan.
Today it means
noun A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “floss”. 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 / French floche / floss