fleet English · revision 5903

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fliːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|group of ships}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun for ships is Middle English flete, [[inh|ang|flēot|t=a ship, raft, floating vessel; boats generally]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|ang|flēotan|t=to float, swim]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*fleutaną]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which also gave Old Saxon fliotan, Dutch vlieten and German fließen “to flow”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE *pleud-, an extension of the root [[ine-pro|*pleu-|t=to flow]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Compare [[float]] and [[flow]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A ship or ships: before 1000 in the OED and Barnhart; the more usual Old English word was flota.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A naval force, a group of armed ships under one command, is from late Old English or early Middle English, before 1200 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Applied to a troop of armed men or a company of birds or other things moving together, it is from before 1400.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A number of ships or boats sailing in company is from 1697,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''the fleet'' for the navy is by 1712.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The Fleet Air Arm of the British navy is from 1923.^(OED 1989) In the 20th century the word came to mean the vehicles, such as taxis, buses or aircraft, owned and run by one company.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – a ship.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1200 – a naval force.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1400 – a company of men.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1697 – ships sailing together.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1712 – ''the fleet'', the navy.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1923 – Fleet Air Arm.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A number of [[warship|alt=warships]] under one command, or a country's whole [[navy]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of ships, aircraft or vehicles, such as buses or taxis, owned or run as a unit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ {{homograph|2|swift}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=before 1529}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is apparently from or akin to [[m|non|fljótr|t=swift]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*fleutaz]], from the same root as the noun;^(Etymonline) Barnhart also allows a shortening of an unrecorded fleeting “flying, moving swiftly”, from the verb [[m|enm|fleten|t=to fly, move swiftly]], Old English flēotan “to float”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Swift, rapid: before 1529, in Skelton's writings;^(Barnhart 1988) the 1520s in Etymonline, which thinks it probably older than the record.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Fleet is now mainly poetic or literary.^(SOED 2002) The verb from which [[fleeting]] comes meant to float or drift in Old English and Layamon, and to glide away like a stream, vanish imperceptibly, from about 1200, hence to fade (1570s).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Fleeting'', passing swiftly, is from 1563.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Fleetness'' is from the adjective.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – the verb, to glide away.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1529 – swift.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1563 – ''fleeting''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Moving [[swift|alt=swiftly]]; nimble: ''fleet of foot''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(literary)'' Fleeting, passing quickly.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(archaic)'' To pass or move swiftly; to fly.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[float]]

+ * [[flow]]

+ * [[fleeting]]

+ * [[flotilla]]

+ * [[flood]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fleet, an inlet or creek, is Old English flēot “estuary, flowing water”, from the same verb;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) one such stream, flowing into the Thames near Ludgate Hill, gave its name to Fleet Street, used for the London press since at least 1882, and to the Fleet prison, long a gaol for debtors.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}