floor English · revision 3118

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf|origins=gem-pro *flōruz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /flɔː/, US /flɔːr/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|flor]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|flōr|t=floor, pavement, ground, bottom of a lake]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*flōruz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Dutch vloer, Middle High German vluor (German Flur “field, meadow”) and Old Norse flórr “floor of a cow stall”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Outside Germanic it is cognate with Old Irish lár and Welsh llawr “ground, floor”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and with Latin plānus “level”, the source of [[plain]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline takes it to [[ine-pro|*pleh₂-|alt=*pele-|t=flat; to spread]].^(Etymonline) The verb is from the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The spelling floor is not recorded before about 1390.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English flōr is found about 725 in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988) and the OED's first example of the surface of a room is from about 888.^(OED 1989) The bottom of a lake or sea is a floor before 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A level or story of a house is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) In legislative assemblies the floor where members sit and speak, as opposed to the platform, is from 1774,^(Etymonline) hence ''to have the floor'', “to have the right to speak”.^(MW Collegiate) The verb, “to furnish with a floor”, is from the early 15th century^(Etymonline) (implied in ''flooring'' in 1387).^(Barnhart 1988) “To knock down to the floor” is from the 1640s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the figurative “to puzzle, confound” is first recorded in Coleridge's ''Table Talk'' (1830).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) In mid-19th-century university slang to floor a paper was to do it thoroughly and successfully.^(Etymonline) ''Floor it'', “to press hard on the accelerator”, is by 1986.^(Etymonline) Compounds include ''floor-plan'' (1794), ''floor-board'' (1787) and ''floor-walker'' (1862).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English flōr.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1387 – ''flooring''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 15th century – verb, to furnish with a floor.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a story of a building.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – verb, to knock down.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1774 – the floor of an assembly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1830 – verb, to puzzle, confound.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1986 – ''floor it''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The lower surface of a room, on which one walks.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[story]] or level of a building.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The bottom of the sea, a valley, a forest or other area.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The part of an assembly hall where members sit and speak; the right to speak there.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A lower limit, as of prices or wages.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An area used for a particular activity: ''the factory floor''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To provide with a floor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To knock down.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To [[astonish]] or baffle.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To press (a car's [[accelerator]]) to the floor.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[floorer]]

+ * [[floored]]

+ * [[floorless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flooring]]

+ * [[plain]]

+ * [[plane]]

+ * [[plan]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}