flunk English · revision 1354

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /flʌŋk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of unknown origin.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is traditionally explained as an alteration of British university slang ''funk'' “to be frightened, shrink from”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and Merriam-Webster suggests a blend of [[flinch]] and [[funk]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To back out, give up or fail utterly (1823, American college slang).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline places the slang at Yale.^(Etymonline) The sense of failing an examination is from 1848,^(OED 1989) and the transitive sense of giving a student a failing mark from 1843.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The noun followed in 1846.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1823 – to back out or fail.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1843 – to give a failing mark.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1846 – noun, a total failure.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1848 – to fail an examination, and ''flunk out''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fail a course or examination.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To give a failing grade to a student.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(flunk out)'' To be dismissed from a school or course for failure.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of flunking; a failing grade.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flunker]]

+ * [[flunkout]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}