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floss

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin.[2][3] Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from French floche, as in soie floche (“floss silk”),[4][5][6][7][8] or as a partial translation of that phrase,[9][10] from Old French flosche (“down, nap of velvet”), also in soye flosche;[4][5][2][10] the OED compares Italian seta floscia.[2] Etymonline, the American Heritage Dictionary and Klein trace the French word to floc (“tuft of wool”), from Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”),[3][8][10] but the Shorter Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Hoad call it of unknown origin.[5][6][4] The OED, Etymonline and Barnhart also consider a native English or Scandinavian word cognate with fleece,[2][3][9] comparing Icelandic flos (“nap of cloth”) and Danish flos (“plush”),[2] and Merriam-Webster derives it from or relates it to Dutch vlos, with Middle Low German vlūs (“fleece”).[11] Barnhart notes the Middle English surname Flosmonger (1314), possibly a dealer in down or tufted wool, which would favour a Dutch, Scandinavian or Low German source.[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The rough silk round the cocoon of the silkworm, in floss-silk and flosh-silk: 1759.[9][3][11] The OED's first record is S. Pullein's paper in the Philosophical Transactions for 1759, published in 1760.[2] Early spellings also include flosh and flox.[4]

Semantic evolution

From silk the word spread to anything fine and fluffy: a flossy surface or fluff (1786),[2] the silky fibres of plants such as maize,[5][12] and the spun sugar of candy floss.[12] It came to mean silk in fine filaments, short for floss silk, from 1871,[2][3] and embroidery thread.[11][12] Etymonline dates dental floss to 1872 and the verb "to clean the teeth with floss" to 1909,[3] where the OED's first records are from 1936 and 1974, and Merriam-Webster also dates the verb to 1974.[2][11] A separate verb floss, to flirt or show off, is recorded from 1938, as a back-formation from flossy;[2] in American Black slang it came to mean flaunting one's wealth, and in the 1990s also to relax.[2][13] The floss is also a dance in which the hips twist one way and the arms swing the other.[12]

Timeline

  • 1759 – floss silk, the rough silk round a silkworm's cocoon.[9][3][11] The OED's first record is from 1760.[2]
  • 1786 – a flossy surface; fluff.[2]
  • 1871 – silk in fine filaments.[2][3]
  • 1872 – dental floss.[3] The OED's first record is from 1936.[2]
  • 1909 – verb, to clean the teeth with dental floss.[3] The OED and Merriam-Webster date it to 1974.[2][11]
  • 1938 – verb, to flirt or show off.[2]
  • 1993 – American slang, to relax.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Dental floss: He keeps a roll of floss in his desk.[11][12][2]
  2. Soft, loosely twisted silk or cotton thread used for embroidery.[11][12]
  3. The short, rough silk fibres from the outside of a silkworm's cocoon.[11][12][2]
  4. A mass of fine silky fibres from plants, such as those of maize.[12][5]

Verb

  1. To clean between the teeth with dental floss: Floss every night before bed.[11][12][2]
  2. (slang) To show off, especially by flaunting money or possessions.[2][13]

Word family

  • flosser
  • flossy
  • candy floss
  • dental floss

Usage notes

Several minor words are spelled the same.[2][5] In Orkney and Shetland floss is the soft rush, used for thatch and ropes, recorded from 1623 and probably from Norn, related to Icelandic flus (“peel, rind”).[2][5][14] In metallurgy floss is the molten slag floating on iron in a puddling furnace, dating from 1839; it is a borrowing of the German word for it.[2][5][11] The German noun also means a raft.[2][5][11] Carlyle's floss "a stream" (1865) is of doubtful genuineness; the OED suggests that the river in The Mill on the Floss led him to think the German word existed in English.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  13. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ 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)