fluo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɫu.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfluː.o]^[1]

Forms

fluō (present infinitive fluere, perfect active flūxī, supine flūxum or flūctum); third conjugation, no passive^[1] An inscription has conflouont; the supine is flūctum, later flūxum.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *flow-e/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleuH- (“to flow over”).^[2] Leumann regards the spelling ⟨flu-⟩ as taken from compounds where *-flou- stood in a non-initial syllable.^[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek φλύω (phlúō, “to boil over”), Lithuanian bliáuti (“to bleat, sob”) and Old Church Slavonic бльвати (blĭvati, “to vomit”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5] Ennius describes a river flowing with a gentle current.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was of rivers and any liquid to flow or run, of air, light and effluences to stream, and of crowds to flock, as in Virgil.^[4] It was of solids to melt, as Ovid's gold in the fire, to be soaked or drip, and figuratively to proceed or spring from something, to vanish or waste away, and to be slack or effeminate.^[4][1] Döderlein says it refers to the motion of a fluid, against mānō, its spreading, and liqueō, its state.^[6]

Its derivatives gave English fluid, from fluidus, flux, from flūxus, and influence, from Medieval Latin īnfluentia.^[7] Learned French fluer and Spanish fluir are borrowed from it.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a river.^[4][5]
• late 14th century – English flux and influence are recorded.^[7]
• early 15th century – English fluid is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To flow, run, stream.^[4][3]
2. Of air, light and the like, to stream.^[4]
3. Of crowds, to flock.^[4]
4. To melt; to be soaked, drip.^[4]
5. To proceed, spring (from); to spread.^[1]
6. To vanish, waste away; to be slack, effeminate.^[1]

Word family

• affluō
• circumfluō
• cōnfluō
• dēfluō
• diffluō
• effluō
• flūctiō
• flūctus
• fluentia
• fluentum
• fluibundus

Related words

• English fluid
• English flux
• English influence

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com