Etymograph

English

flue

Flue comes from Middle English flowen ‘to spout or trickle’, from Old English flōwan ‘to flow’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-1‘to flow, swim’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flōaną2‘to flow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flōan2‘to flow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150flōwan2‘to flow’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flowen3as flue‘to spout or trickle’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1815flue3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *flōaną, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English flowen
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English flue
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1815, Robertson Buchanan, A Treatise on the Economy of Fuel: “It has frequently been a subject of inquiry, whether…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *flōaną, which cites Kroonen‘to flow, swim’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flōanąWiktionary, Middle English flowen‘to flow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*flōanWiktionary, Middle English flowen‘to flow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150flōwanWiktionary, Middle English flowen‘to flow’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flowenWiktionary, English flueas flue‘to spout or trickle’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1815flueWiktionary, English flue. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1815, Robertson Buchanan, A Treatise on the Economy of Fuel: “It has frequently been a subject of inquiry, whether…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to flow, swim’

fly, flew, pneumonia, plough, plutonium, fowl, plover, flay, plutocracy, 22 more

through Old English flōwan ‘to flow’

flowing, flown, overflow, 1 more

through Middle English flowen ‘to spout or trickle’

flow, 2 more

Today it means

noun A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “flue”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *flōaną, Middle English flowen. 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- / flue

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