Etymograph

English

forint

Forint comes from Italian fiorino ‘florin, the former currency of Tuscany’, from fiore ‘flower, bloom, blossom’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-1‘to bloom’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰléh₃s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*flōs1‘flower, blossom’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflos2as flōrem‘flower, blossom’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentfiore3‘flower, bloom, blossom’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentfiorino4‘florin, the former currency of Tuscany’
  7. Hungarianmodernforint4
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2014forint4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin flos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Italian fiore
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Italian fiorino
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English forint
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Seth Kugel, Wintertime Bargains in Budapest: “Better yet, there were no cover charges, and we…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-Wiktionary, Latin flos‘to bloom’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰléh₃sWiktionary, Latin flosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*flōsWiktionary, Latin flos‘flower, blossom’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflosWiktionary, Italian fioreas flōrem‘flower, blossom’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentfioreWiktionary, Italian fiorino‘flower, bloom, blossom’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentfiorinoWiktionary, English forint‘florin, the former currency of Tuscany’
  7. HungarianmodernforintWiktionary, English forint
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2014forintWiktionary, English forint. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Seth Kugel, Wintertime Bargains in Budapest: “Better yet, there were no cover charges, and we…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘to bloom’

full, blood, blow, blade, bless, fool, bloom, bleed, blossom, foil, folly, folio, belladonna, folic, exfoliate, florid, 52 more

through Proto-Italic *flōs ‘flower, blossom’

flower, fleur, 13 more

through Latin flos ‘flower, blossom’

floral, flora, flourish, florist, flor, 11 more

through Italian fiore ‘flower, bloom, blossom’

ferret, 1 more

through Italian fiorino ‘florin, the former currency of Tuscany’

florin, 1 more

Today it means

noun The basic unit of currency of Hungary; formerly subdivided into 100 fillér.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “forint”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin flos, Italian fiore, Italian fiorino. 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 *bʰleh₃- / forint

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