flag

English has four words spelled flag: the banner, the iris plant, the verb “to droop, tire”, and the flat paving stone, from Old Norse.^[1][2] Their origins are mostly uncertain, and the banner and the verb may be connected.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /flæɡ/^[4]

flag¹ banner

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[1][5][2] The word is in all the modern Germanic languages, as Danish flag, Swedish flagga, Dutch vlag and German Flagge, but seems to be recorded first in English, which may be their source.^[1][5] It is perhaps from the obsolete adjective flag “hanging down”,^[2][3] or related to the verb flag “to flap about”,^[1][5] or an independent imitative word for something flapping in the wind, as the OED suggests.^[5][3] Merriam-Webster connects it with fag end.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

1530, in Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement, and perhaps as early as 1481, according to Barnhart;^[1] the late 15th century in Etymonline,^[5] the mid-16th century in Word Origins.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to stop by waving a flag, is from 1856 in American English,^[1][7] and to decorate or mark with flags from the late 18th century.^[8] Show the flag, from the early 20th century, was first said of a naval ship making an official visit to a foreign port.^[3] The American Flag Day, from 1894, marks the adoption of the Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1777,^[5] and the name and details of a newspaper are its flag from 1956.^[5]

Timeline

• 1530 – a banner.^[1]
• late 18th century – verb, to mark with flags.^[8]
• 1856 – verb, to signal to stop.^[1][7]
• 1894 – Flag Day.^[5]
• early 20th century – show the flag.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A piece of cloth of distinctive design used as a symbol, signal or emblem, as of a nation.
2. A marker, such as a tab or symbol, used to draw attention to something.
3. The flagship of an admiral.

Verb

1. To mark with a flag for attention or identification.
2. To signal with or as if with a flag, especially to stop: flagged down a taxi.

Word family

• flagpole
• flagship
• flagstaff

flag² iris

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English flagge (“reed, rush”),^[1][7] of unknown origin,^[2][8] related to Dutch flag and Danish flæg “yellow iris”, perhaps borrowed from Scandinavian.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A reed or rush, and plants with sword-shaped leaves: before 1387 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's Polychronicon,^[1] 1387 in the OED.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The blade or long leaf of a plant is from 1578.^[9] It came to be used chiefly of the iris,^[2] as the yellow flag of English dialect.^[10]

Timeline

• 1387 – a reed, iris.^[1][9]
• 1578 – a long leaf.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A plant with long sword-shaped leaves, such as an iris or a cattail.

flag³ droop

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.^[7][2] It is perhaps a variant of Middle English flakken “to flap, flutter”,^[1][5] probably from Old Norse flaka “to flicker, flutter, hang loose”, itself perhaps imitative.^[5][1] Hoad relates it to the obsolete adjective flag “hanging loose”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To flap about loosely, hang down”: 1545 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[1][7] the 1540s in Etymonline.^[5]

Semantic evolution

“To become limp, droop” is first recorded in Cotgrave's dictionary of 1611,^[1] the 1610s in Etymonline,^[5] which led to the sense “to grow tired or weak”.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1545 – to flap loosely.^[1][7]
• 1611 – to droop.^[1]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To lose energy or strength; to weaken: interest flagged.
2. To hang limp; to droop.

Word family

• flagging

flag⁴ stone

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English flagge (“piece of turf”),^[7][8] probably borrowed from Old Norse flaga (“slab of stone”),^[1][5][7] compare Old Norse flag “spot where a turf has been cut out”,^[5][2] from Proto-Germanic *flago-,^[5] from Proto-Indo-European *plak- (“to be flat”).^[5] It is related to flaw.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece cut from the turf, a sod: about 1440 in the OED,^[9] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[5] Barnhart's slab of stone is from 1415–16.^[1]

Semantic evolution

A flat slab of rock for paving is from 1604 in the OED,^[9] about 1600 in Etymonline.^[5] The verb, to pave with flagstones, is from the early 16th century,^[8] and flagstone from 1730.^[1]

Timeline

• 1415–16 – a stone slab.^[1]
• c. 1440 – a turf.^[9]
• 1604 – a paving stone.^[9]
• 1730 – flagstone.^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A flat slab of stone used for paving; a flagstone.

Verb

1. To pave with flagstones.

Word family

• flagstone

Related words

• flaw

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)