flight English · revision 2725
15 Oct 2026, 16:58 by bogdan “en10k b0088: environment … murder” current version
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+ English has two words spelled ''flight'': the act of flying, related to [[fly]], and the act of fleeing, related to [[flee]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /flaɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|flying}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 900|origins=gem-pro *fluhtiz}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The act of flying is [[inh|enm|fliht]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|flyht|t=a flying, power of flying]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*fluhtiz|alt=*flukhtiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from the weak grade of the source of [[m|ang|flēogan|t=to fly]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) said by Watkins to be from [[ine-pro|*pleu-|t=to flow]].^(Etymonline) It is related to Dutch vlucht “flight of birds” and German Flug.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The spelling flight is first found in Chaucer, about 1385,^(Barnhart 1988) as in [[fight]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The action of flying through the air with wings: before 900.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Swift movement in general, as of an arrow, is from the mid-13th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a flock of birds or a number of things passing through the air together from the 13th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) A volley of missiles is from the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986) A series of stairs between landings is by 1703.^(Etymonline) Figuratively, an excursion of fancy or imagination is from the 1660s.^(Etymonline) Travel in an aircraft or spacecraft is from 1784, and a single journey, originally by balloon, from 1785.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) An RAF unit of five or six aircraft is from 1914.^(OED 1989) ''Flight attendant'' is from 1946.^(Etymonline) ''Flighty'', first “swift” (1552), came to mean “fickle” in the 18th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * before 900 – the act of flying.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * mid-13th century – swift movement.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1552 – ''flighty'', swift.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1660s – a flight of fancy.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1703 – a flight of stairs.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1784 – travel by aircraft.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1785 – a single journey by air.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1946 – ''flight attendant''.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The act or manner of flying; the ability to fly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A journey by air, especially a scheduled one by an [[airline]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)
+ # Movement through the air or space, as of a [[projectile]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A group of birds or aircraft flying together.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)
+ # A series of [[stair|alt=stairs]] between two floors or landings.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)
+ # An imaginative or extravagant excursion: ''a flight of fancy''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # Of birds, to fly in flocks.^(AHD)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[flighty]]
+ * [[flightless]]
+ * [[flight attendant]]
+ * [[flight deck]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|fleeing}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1200, Ancrene Riwle|origins=gem-pro *fluhtiz}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The act of fleeing is [[inh|enm|fluht]], fliht,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) not found in Old English, though probably existing there,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*fluhtiz|alt=*flugti-]],^(Etymonline) from the source of [[m|ang|flēon|t=to flee]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Old Frisian flecht, Old Saxon and Old High German fluht, Dutch vlucht, German Flucht, Old Norse flótti and Gothic þlauhs.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The act of running away: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'',^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline and in the ''Ormulum''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ ''Put to flight'', “to rout”, is from the late 14th century, replacing the early 13th-century do o' flight.^(Etymonline) ''Take flight'' and ''flight of capital'', money moved abroad for safety, extend the same sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * before 1200 – the act of fleeing.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * late 14th century – ''put to flight''.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The act of running away; an [[escape]]: ''take flight''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[fly]]
+ * [[flee]]
+ * [[fleet]]
+ * [[flow]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A third ''flight'', a flake of snow or a snowstorm, is a dialect variant of flaught from the late 15th century.^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}