Etymologically
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flank

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /flænk/[1]
  • US: /flæŋk/, /fleɪŋk/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English flanke, also flaunke,[2][3] from late inherited from Old English flanc,[4][3][5][6] borrowed from Old French flanc (“hip, side”),[4][3][7][8] which is the same word as Old Occitan flanc and Italian fianco;[9][2] Spanish flanco and Portuguese flanco, used only in transferred senses, seem to come from French.[9] The French word is generally taken to be of Germanic origin,[6][8][5][10] from Frankish *hlanka (“side”),[3][7][2][11] with the Germanic initial “hl-” replaced by Romance “fl-”.[3][4][12] The OED calls the further etymology disputed but this the most probable explanation, since the same change is believed to occur in some proper names, such as French “Floovent” and medieval Latin “Flodoardus”;[9] Diez had instead taken it as a nasalized form of Latin flaccus (“flaccid”), but no such Latin adjective is known.[9]

The Germanic word is Proto-Germanic *hlankaz,[13][14] the source also of Old High German hlanca (“loin, hip, side”),[3][8][14] Middle High German lanke (“hip joint”),[4][2] Middle Dutch lanke,[9] Old Saxon hlanka (“hip, thigh”)[14] and Old English hlanc (“lank, slender”), compare lank,[4][12][8] and Old Norse hlekkr (“link of a chain”).[14] Etymonline and Klein trace it to Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend, turn”), the root of link and of German lenken (“to bend, steer”).[4][2][7] German Flanke is a loan from French.[2]

The verb is formed from the noun in English, compare French flanquer.[9][11][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fleshy part of the side of a person or animal between the ribs and the hip: before 1100, in Old English glosses on Prudentius.[9][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English form flaunke appears before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin.[3] In late Middle English the word could also mean the belly or the womb (from before 1398, in Trevisa, to 1481).[9][11] The general sense "side", whether of an army or of anything, came in the 16th century: the military sense of the extreme left or right of a body of troops is first recorded in William Patten's account of the expedition into Scotland (1548),[3][9][4] the fortification sense of a part of a work that defends another by flanking fire in Marlowe (1590),[9] and the side of a building or mountain from 1624.[9][4] Weekley notes that in English the word is chiefly military.[12] The verb began in the same military sphere, with "to fire sideways" (1548), "to attack the flank of" (1572) and "to guard on the flank" (Spenser, 1596);[9][3] the meaning "to be placed at the side of" followed in the 1650s.[4][9] A cut of beef from the flank is recorded from 1747.[9] In American slang of the 1860s, originally military, flank meant to dodge or evade.[15][9] Johnson (1755) gave Ménage's derivation from Greek, but thought Latin latus (“side”) more likely.[16]

Timeline

  • before 1100 – Old English flanc, the side between ribs and hip.[9][3]
  • before 1300 – Middle English flaunke.[3]
  • before 1398 – the belly, the womb (obsolete by 1481).[9]
  • 1548 – the right or left side of an army.[9][3][4]
  • 1548 – the verb, to fire sideways (obsolete).[9][3]
  • 1572 – to attack the flank of.[9]
  • 1590 – in fortification, a part that defends another by flanking fire.[9]
  • 1596 – to guard or protect on the flank.[9][3]
  • 1624 – the side of anything, such as a building.[9]
  • 1651 – to stand or be placed at the side of.[9]
  • 1747 – a cut of beef.[9]
  • 1864 – American slang, to dodge.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The fleshy part of the side of a person or animal between the ribs and the hip.[8][10][9]
  2. A cut of meat, especially beef, from this part.[8][10][9]
  3. Leather or hide from the flank of an animal.[8][9]
  4. The side of anything, such as a hill or a building.[8][10][9]
  5. The right or left side of a military or naval formation.[8][10][9]
  6. (obsolete, 1398–1481) The belly; the womb.[9][11]

Verb

  1. To be at the side of something, or on each side of it: Two tall cypresses flanked the gate.[8][10][9]
  2. To guard or protect at the side, especially a formation of troops.[8][10][9]
  3. To attack or threaten the flank of an enemy, or to go round it.[8][10][9]

Word family

  • outflank
  • flanker
  • flank speed
  • lank
  • link
  • flinch
  • flange
  • flunkey

Usage notes

A separate verb flank, to flick or to crack a whip, recorded from 1830 in Bulwer-Lytton, is imitative, compare flick and spank.[9][11][8] A noun flank meaning a flake, recorded about 1400, may be a nasalized form of flake.[9] In English dialects flank was also a spark of fire in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon, and a verb to beat or whip in southern Nottinghamshire.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ 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 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  14. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  15. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  17. ^ 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)