flag

flag
\ \ English has at least three separate words flag, none of whose origins are known for certain.
\ \ Both the noun ‘cloth used as an emblem’ [16] and the verb ‘droop, decline’ [16] may have developed from an obsolete 16th-century adjective flagdrooping, hanging down’, but no one knows where that came from. Flag the plant [14] is probably related to Danish flægyellow iris’, but beyond that the trail goes cold. Flag as in flag-stone [15] originally meant ‘piece of turf’. It probably came from Old Norse flagastone slab’. This also gave English flaw (which originally meant ‘flake’), which is related to English floe, and goes back to a Germanic base, a variant of which produced English flake.
\ \ Cf.FLAKE, FLAW, FLOE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • flag — flag …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Flag — Flag, n. [Cf. LG. & G. flagge, Sw. flagg, Dan. flag, D. vlag. See {Flag} to hang loose.] 1. That which flags or hangs down loosely. [1913 Webster] 2. A cloth usually bearing a device or devices and used to indicate nationality, party, etc., or to …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • flag — n Flag, ensign, standard, banner, color, streamer, pennant, pendant, pennon, jack are not always clearly distin guished. Flag, the comprehensive term, is applied to a piece of cloth that typically is rectangular, is attached to a staff, mast,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • flag — Ⅰ. flag [1] ► NOUN 1) an oblong piece of cloth that is raised on or attached to a pole and used as an emblem or marker. 2) a device or symbol resembling a flag, used as a marker. 3) a small paper badge given to people who donate to a charity… …   English terms dictionary

  • Flag — Flag, v. t. [From {Flag} an ensign.] 1. To signal to with a flag or by waving the hand; as, to flag a train; also used with down; as, to flag down a cab. [1913 Webster] 2. To convey, as a message, by means of flag signals; as, to flag an order to …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • flag — flag1 [flag] n. [LME flagge < FLAG4, in obs. sense “to flutter”] 1. a piece of cloth or bunting, often attached to a staff, with distinctive colors, patterns, or symbolic devices, used as a national or state symbol, as a signal, etc.; banner;… …   English World dictionary

  • Flag — Flag, n. [From {Flag} to hang loose, to bend down.] (Bot.) An aquatic plant, with long, ensiform leaves, belonging to either of the genera {Iris} and {Acorus}. [1913 Webster] {Cooper s flag}, the cat tail ({Typha latifolia}), the long leaves of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Flag — steht für: Flag (Informatik), ein Variablentyp mit eng begrenztem Wertesatz, oft nur 0/1 das Spielgerät beim Flag Football das englische Wort für Flagge oder auch Fahne Flag (Lichttechnik), eine Vorrichtung in der Fotografie und Filmproduktion,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • flag — [ flag ] n. m. • 1935; abrév. de flagrant délit ♦ Arg. Flagrant délit. « Le proxénétisme, c est un délit, merde ! Il est perpétuellement en flag, ce mec là » (M. Rolland). Des flags. flag ou flague [flag] n. m. ÉTYM. 1935; abrév. de flagrant… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • flag|gy — flag|gy1 «FLAG ee», adjective, gi|er, gi|est. 1. hanging down limply; drooping. 2. soft and flabby; having no firmness; flaccid. ╂[< flag …   Useful english dictionary

  • Flag — (fl[a^]g), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Flagged} (fl[a^]gd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Flagging} (fl[a^]g g[i^]ng).] [Cf. Icel. flaka to droop, hang loosely. Cf. {Flacker}, {Flag} an ensign.] 1. To hang loose without stiffness; to bend down, as flexible bodies;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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