flo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɫoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈflɔː]^[1]

Forms

flō (present infinitive flāre, perfect active flāvī, supine flātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to blow”), perhaps through Proto-Italic *flāō.^[2][1] De Vaan relates it to fleō “to weep”, and discusses how the present stem arose; separating the two would leave the /ē/ of Germanic unexplained.^[2] Cognate with Old High German blāen (“to blow”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽 (blesan, “to blow”) and English blow.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was of winds to blow, as Cato's west wind, of people to breathe out or blow, and of bombastic speech.^[3][5] It was to play on a pipe, and in metalwork to blow air on molten metal, as in Vitruvius' casting of lead.^[3] Lucretius uses it of breathing out flames.^[5]

Its derivatives gave English inflate, from īnflāre, and flatulent, from flātus.^[6] English blow is a cognate.^[3][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the west wind.^[3][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of blowing on lead being cast.^[3][4]
• early 15th century – English inflate is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of winds, to blow.^[3][7]
2. To breathe out, blow; to speak bombastically.^[3][1]
3. To play (a pipe or a tune).^[3]
4. To blow air on (metal being cast).^[3]

Word family

• afflō
• circumflō
• cōnflō
• dēflō
• difflō
• flābilis
• flābrum
• flāmen
• flamentum
• flātilis
• flātiō
• flātor

Related words

• fleō
• English inflate
• English flatulent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press