flag English · revision 4399

+ English has four words spelled ''flag'': the banner, the iris plant, the verb “to droop, tire”, and the flat paving stone, from Old Norse.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Their origins are mostly uncertain, and the banner and the verb may be connected.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /flæɡ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|banner}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1530}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The word is in all the modern Germanic languages, as Danish flag, Swedish flagga, Dutch vlag and German Flagge, but seems to be recorded first in English, which may be their source.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is perhaps from the obsolete adjective flag “hanging down”,^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) or related to the verb flag “to flap about”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) or an independent imitative word for something flapping in the wind, as the OED suggests.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Merriam-Webster connects it with [[fag end]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1530, in Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement, and perhaps as early as 1481, according to Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) the late 15th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) the mid-16th century in Word Origins.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to stop by waving a flag, is from 1856 in American English,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and to decorate or mark with flags from the late 18th century.^(SOED 2002) ''Show the flag'', from the early 20th century, was first said of a naval ship making an official visit to a foreign port.^(Cresswell 2021) The American Flag Day, from 1894, marks the adoption of the Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1777,^(Etymonline) and the name and details of a newspaper are its flag from 1956.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1530 – a banner.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 18th century – verb, to mark with flags.^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1856 – verb, to signal to stop.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1894 – Flag Day.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 20th century – ''show the flag''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of cloth of distinctive design used as a symbol, [[signal]] or [[emblem]], as of a [[nation]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A marker, such as a tab or symbol, used to draw attention to something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The flagship of an admiral.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To mark with a flag for attention or identification.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To signal with or as if with a flag, especially to stop: ''flagged down a taxi''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flagpole]]

+ * [[flagship]]

+ * [[flagstaff]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|iris}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1387}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|flagge|t=reed, rush]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) of unknown origin,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) related to Dutch flag and Danish flæg “yellow iris”, perhaps borrowed from Scandinavian.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A reed or rush, and plants with sword-shaped leaves: before 1387 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's Polychronicon,^(Barnhart 1988) 1387 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The blade or long leaf of a plant is from 1578.^(OED 1989) It came to be used chiefly of the iris,^(Hoad 1986) as the yellow flag of English dialect.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1387 – a reed, iris.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1578 – a long leaf.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A plant with long sword-shaped leaves, such as an [[iris]] or a cattail.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ {{homograph|3|droop}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1545}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) It is perhaps a variant of Middle English flakken “to flap, flutter”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) probably from Old Norse flaka “to flicker, flutter, hang loose”, itself perhaps imitative.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad relates it to the obsolete adjective flag “hanging loose”.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To flap about loosely, hang down”: 1545 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the 1540s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “To become limp, droop” is first recorded in Cotgrave's dictionary of 1611,^(Barnhart 1988) the 1610s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) which led to the sense “to grow tired or weak”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1545 – to flap loosely.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1611 – to droop.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lose [[energy]] or strength; to weaken: ''interest flagged''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To hang limp; to droop.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flagging]]

+

+ {{homograph|4|stone}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1440|origins=non flaga}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|flagge|t=piece of turf]],^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) probably [[bor|non|flaga|t=slab of stone]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) compare Old Norse flag “spot where a turf has been cut out”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Proto-Germanic *flago-,^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*plāk-|alt=*plak-|t=to be flat]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[flaw]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A piece cut from the turf, a sod: about 1440 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Barnhart's slab of stone is from 1415–16.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A flat slab of rock for paving is from 1604 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1600 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The verb, to pave with flagstones, is from the early 16th century,^(SOED 2002) and ''flagstone'' from 1730.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1415–16 – a stone slab.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1440 – a turf.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1604 – a paving stone.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1730 – ''flagstone''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A flat slab of [[stone]] used for paving; a flagstone.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pave with flagstones.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flagstone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flaw]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}