fly
English has two main words spelled fly, both from Old English and related: the verb “to move through the air”, and the noun, the winged insect.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /flaɪ/[4]
fly1 move through the air
Etymology
The verb is inherited from Middle English flien,[5][3] inherited from Old English flēogan (“to fly”),[3][1][2] from Proto-Germanic *fleuganą,[3][1][2] which Watkins traces to Proto-Indo-European *pleuk-, an extension of *pleu- (“to flow”).[3][1][2] It is cognate with Dutch vliegen, German fliegen and Old Norse fljúga.[1][2] It is not cognate with flee, but has been confused with it since Old English, when the two verbs differed only in the present stem.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
To move through the air with wings: about 725, in Beowulf.[1]
Semantic evolution
Old English also used it of things carried through the air by the wind.[3] “To move swiftly” is from about 1200,[3] “to burst into fragments” from about 1300,[3] and of time, “to pass swiftly”, from the 1590s.[3] Of flags, “to flutter in the wind”, is by the 1650s,[3] and the transitive sense, “to make float in the air”, as of a kite, by 1739.[3] The noun fly, a flight, is from before 1450, and things attached by one edge as if flapping like a wing, such as a tent fly (1810) and the fly of trousers (1844), come from it.[1][6] To fly a kite meant to raise money on credit in the 19th century and now means to test public opinion.[6] The past tense flew is unexplained, perhaps by association with flow.[2] Fly the coop is American from 1887.[3]
Timeline
- c. 725 – to fly.[1]
- c. 1200 – to move swiftly.[3]
- before 1450 – noun, a flight.[1]
- 1590s – of time.[3]
- 1650s – of flags.[3]
- 1739 – to fly a kite.[3]
- 1844 – the fly of trousers.[1]
Modern meaning
Verb
- To move through the air with wings.
- To travel in an aircraft; to pilot an aircraft.
- To float or flutter in the air, as a flag or kite; to cause to do so.
- To move or pass swiftly: time flies.
- To flee: to fly from danger.
Noun
- A flap of cloth covering a zip or buttons on trousers.
- A flap at the entrance of a tent, or a fabric cover over a tent.
- flies: the space above a theatre stage.
Word family
- flier
- flyover
- flywheel
- flyby
- high-flying
fly2 insect
Etymology
The insect is inherited from Middle English flie,[1][3] inherited from Old English flēoge (“fly, winged insect”),[3][1][2] from Proto-West Germanic *fleugā,[2] literally “the flying insect”, from the root of fly1.[3][2] It is cognate with Dutch vlieg and German Fliege,[1][2] and Old Norse fluga.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Any winged insect: before 800 in Barnhart[1] and about 950 in the OED.[7]
Semantic evolution
Originally, and in popular language, it meant any common flying insect, such as a bee, gnat, moth or locust, as in butterfly;[3][6] a 17th-century writer spoke of “the black flies called beetles”.[6] A two-winged insect, especially the housefly, is from about 1000.[7][3] The plural flien was gradually replaced by flies between the 13th and 15th centuries.[3] A fishing hook dressed to look like an insect is from the 1580s, and fly-fishing from the 1650s.[3] A fly in the ointment goes back to Ecclesiastes,[6][3] fly on the wall is by 1881,[3] and no flies on someone, “no lack of alertness”, from 1848.[7]
Timeline
- before 800 – a winged insect.[1]
- c. 1000 – a two-winged insect.[7]
- 1580s – a fishing fly.[3]
- 1650s – fly-fishing.[3]
- 1848 – no flies on.[7]
- 1881 – fly on the wall.[3]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A two-winged insect, especially the housefly.
- Any of various other flying insects, such as the dragonfly.
- A fishing lure made to look like an insect.
Word family
- housefly
- butterfly
- firefly
- dragonfly
- fly-fishing
Related words
Usage notes
A slang adjective fly, “sharp, wide-awake”, is from the early 19th century (1811 in Merriam-Webster) and may come from the verb.[2][5] A fly was also a light hired carriage in the 19th century.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press