flot

Forms

flot m (plural flots)^[1] Old French and Anglo-Norman flot, flod, floz, fluet.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *flot- (“flow, streaming”), a Frankish radical shown by Middle Dutch vlot “flood” and vloten “to flow in streams”.^[3][4][5] For the first sense, “rising tide”, which is recorded first in Normandy and in Anglo-Norman, the TLFi and the DHLF see Old Norse flóð (“flood, flux”) instead,^[3][5][6] and Bloch and Wartburg likewise derive the Norman and Anglo-Norman word for “tide” from the Old Norse one and keep it apart from the general word.^[7] Bloch and Wartburg think that Frankish passed the noun into French together with the verb flotter.^[7]

Old French also had fluet “river; wave” (mid-12th century), from a Frankish *fluod.^[3][5][7] The Grand Robert describes the modern word as that form remade after the verb,^[8][9] and Wiktionary traces both Frankish forms to Proto-Germanic *flutą and *flōduz (“river”).^[1]

Littré derived the word from Latin fluctus (“wave”), from fluō (“to flow”), comparing Italian flutto.^[10] Rey and the Grand Robert, following P. Guiraud, think a crossing of the Germanic radical with fluctuō (“to undulate”) likely.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Geffrei Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1140) it means the rising tide, a sense first found in Norman and Anglo-Norman texts.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the singular the word named the flow of the tide; from about 1176 it was used, chiefly in the plural, for any mass of moving water, and so for the waves and the sea.^[3][5] By analogy it came to mean a large crowd of people (14th century) and a large quantity of things (1645), and by metaphor an abundant outpouring (1662, Corneille).^[5][11] Ronsard already spoke in 1552 of the flotz of a woman's blond tresses, and a wavy mass of hair, lace or ribbons is called a flot; regionally the word names a double-looped bow.^[3][5]

The phrase à flot “afloat” comes from an Old French sense “surface of the water”;^[5] mettre à flot is recorded by Furetière in 1690, and figuratively être à flot is to be clear of one's difficulties and remettre à flot to set someone on his feet again.^[11][5][10]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Gaimar uses it for the rising tide.^[3]
• 1176–81 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for a moving mass of water.^[3]
• 14th century – It is used for a crowd of people.^[5][11]
• 1552 – Ronsard writes of the flotz of blond tresses.^[3]
• 1645 – It is used for a great quantity of things.^[5]
• 1662 – Corneille uses it for a large quantity of liquid poured out.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records mettre à flot.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly plural, literary) The waves of a sea or lake; the sea itself.^[9][1]
2. A moving mass of water, a current; by extension a stream of lava or mud.^[9]
3. The rising tide, the flood tide, as opposed to the ebb.^[9][10]
4. A large quantity or stream of people or things: un flot de touristes envahit la place.^[5][1]
5. An abundant flow of a liquid: à flots “in streams”.^[5][1]
6. A wavy mass of hair, lace or ribbons.^[3][5]
7. À flot: afloat;^[10][5] être à flot “to be afloat, to be out of difficulty”, remettre à flot “to refloat, to put back on one's feet”.^[10][5]

Word family

• afflouer
• renflouer

Related words

• flotter
• flotte
• Old Norse flóð
• English flood

Usage notes

Littré gives two minor homographs: flot “state of floating”, a verbal noun of flotter used in être à flot, and flot “tuft of wool on a mule's headstall; a kind of moth”, probably an altered form of floc.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 147b
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 147a
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse