Etymologically
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fluke

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fluːk/ (UK); /fluk/ (US)[1]

Etymology

There are three nouns spelled fluke.[2][3] The one meaning “a stroke of luck” is of unknown origin,[2][3][4][5] possibly from an English dialect word fluke “a guess”, though that is recorded only from 1876.[4][6] The flatfish fluke is inherited from Middle English floke,[3][4] inherited from Old English flōc (“flatfish”),[2][3][4][5] related to Old Norse flóki.[4][5][6] The anchor fluke (1561) is perhaps a special use of the fish name, from its flat shape.[2][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In billiards, a successful stroke made by accident (1857).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline finds the luck sense by 1855, in an account of a horse race in Yorkshire, and in billiards by 1856.[5] From the lucky shot it widened to any lucky stroke or unexpected success.[7] The Century Dictionary connected it with the whale's flukes and the sailors' phrase to go a-fluking “to go very fast”, but the OED would allow only a possible dialect origin.[5] The flatfish name was transferred to parasitic flatworms in the 1660s because of their shape,[5][7] and the anchor name to the two lobes of a whale's tail by 1725.[4][5][7]

Timeline

  • before 700 – Old English flōc, a flatfish.[7][4]
  • 1561 – the blade at the end of an anchor's arm.[7][3][4]
  • 1668 – a parasitic flatworm.[7]
  • 1725 – the lobes of a whale's tail.[7][4][5]
  • 1857 – an accidentally successful stroke at billiards.[7][3][4]
  • 1881 – verb, to hit a ball by a fluke.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A stroke of luck; a chance occurrence.
  2. A lucky, accidental shot in billiards or pool.
  3. A flatfish, especially a flounder.
  4. A parasitic flatworm; a trematode.
  5. The triangular blade at the end of an anchor's arm.
  6. Either lobe of a whale's tail.

Verb

  1. To achieve something by pure chance.
  • flukey
  • fluky
  • flake
  • floe

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press