Etymologically
Log in

flu

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 05:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fluː/[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening of influenza.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Influenza: 1839, as flue, in Southey's Letters.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The spelling flu is first recorded in 1893.[2][3] Etymonline notes that keeping the middle syllable is an unusual way of shortening a word in English, and Weekley compared tec for detective.[3] Informally the word is also used of other viral infections, such as gastric flu.[7]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) Influenza.
  2. Any of various viral infections, especially of the stomach or chest.

Word family

  • blue flu
  • swine flu
  • yuppie flu

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 d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins