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interfluo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word interfluo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
59 BC–17 AD, Livy
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰleuH-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fluo
Latin flumen
Latin fluito
Latin fluxus
Latin fluctus
Latin fluctuo
Latin interfluo
Latin confluo
Latin defluo
Latin diffluo
Latin effluo
Latin circumfluo
Latin profluo
Latin superfluo
Latin fluens

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈtɛr.fɫu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [inˈtɛr.flu.o][1]

Forms

interfluō (present infinitive interfluere, perfect active interflūxī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter- + fluō (“to flow”).[2][1][3] De Vaan traces fluō to Proto-Italic *flow-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰleuH- (“to flow (over)”), comparing Ancient Greek φλέω (phléō, “to abound”) and φλύω (phlúō, “to seethe, boil over”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Livy on, a split form in Lucretius being doubtful.[3] Livy uses it of a torrent with little water flowing between banks, and of the strait that flows between Naupactus and Patrae.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is said of rivers and straits flowing between or through places, without an object or with one: Pliny the Elder has a narrow strait flowing between, and Tacitus the river Weser flowing past the Romans, and Florus the Tiber flowing through the city.[2][5] Tacitus also uses it of things floating in among others: pack animals, baggage and dead bodies drift among the soldiers.[2] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[5]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a strait and a torrent.[2][3][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a narrow strait.[5][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of things floating among others.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of rivers or straits, to flow between or through; with an object, to flow between (places).[2][5][1]
  2. To float in among.[2]

Word family

  • interfluus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Interfluo.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/interfluo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·