flow

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /fləʊ/, US /floʊ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English flowen,^[2] inherited from Old English flōwan (“to flow, stream, issue; become liquid, melt; abound”),^[3][4] a strong verb,^[3][5] from Proto-Germanic *flowan (“to flow”),^[3] the source also of Middle Dutch vloyen, Dutch vloeien, Old Norse flóa “to deluge” and Old High German flouwen “to rinse, wash”,^[3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *pleu- (“to flow”).^[3][4] Outside Germanic it is cognate with Latin pluere “to rain”, Greek plein “to sail, float”, Lithuanian pláuti “to wash” and Sanskrit plavate “swims”.^[4][2] The noun is from the verb.^[3][4] It is related to flood, float and fleet.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English flōwan is recorded before 830, and its past tense fleow probably about 750.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The weak past tense flowed prevailed from the 14th century,^[3][5] but the strong participle flown is occasionally attested until the 18th century.^[3][7] The noun, “the action of flowing”, is from the mid-15th century^[3] (before 1450 in the OED).^[8] The rise of the tide, as in ebb and flow, is from 1583,^[8] and any continuous movement like that of a river, as a flow of words, from the 1640s.^[3][8] The quantity that flows is from 1807,^[3][8] and the gradual deformation of a solid under stress from 1889.^[8] The flow chart is from 1920, after flow-sheet (1912),^[3] and to go with the flow is from 1977, apparently from skiing.^[3]

Timeline

• before 830 – Old English flōwan.^[4]
• before 1450 – noun, the act of flowing.^[8]
• 1583 – the incoming tide.^[8]
• 1640s – any steady movement.^[3]
• 1807 – the quantity that flows.^[3][8]
• 1920 – flow chart.^[3]
• 1977 – go with the flow.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To move smoothly and continuously, as a fluid does.
2. To pour out in a stream.
3. To circulate, as blood in the body.
4. To proceed steadily and easily: the conversation flowed.
5. To hang loosely and gracefully, as hair.
6. Of the tide, to rise.
7. To come from a source; to derive.

Noun

1. The act of flowing.
2. A stream, or the amount that flows in a given time.
3. A smooth, continuous movement or progress: a flow of ideas.
4. The rising of the tide.

Word family

• flowingly
• flowable
• flowability
• free-flowing
• overflow
• underflow

Related words

• flood
• float
• fleet
• fowl
• pluvial
• influx

Usage notes

A different flow, chiefly Scots, means a bog or watery swamp (17th century), perhaps from Old Norse flói, which is related to the verb.^[7][8][2][9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ 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)