fleam
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fliːm/
Audio (southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -iːm
Etymology 1
From Middle English fleme, fleom, from Old French flieme, flemie (“open vein”), probably via a Proto-Germanic source (compare Old Saxon flēma, Old High German fliotuma, fliodema, Old English flȳtme, flītme (“fleam, lancet”)), borrowed from Vulgar Latin fletoma, *fletomus, from Late Latin flebotomus, phlebotomus, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμον (phlebotómon). Compare French flamme, Dutch vlijm, German Fliete, Danish flitte (“fleam”). Doublet of phlebotome.
Alternative forms
- phleam (archaic)
Noun
fleam (plural fleams)
- A sharp instrument used to open a vein, to lance gums, or the like.
- 1831-1850, William Youatt, On the Structure and the Diseases of the Horse
- A bloodstick - a piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead — is used to strike the fleam into the vein
- 1831-1850, William Youatt, On the Structure and the Diseases of the Horse
Hypernyms
- (sharp instrument): lancet
Derived terms
- fleam saw
- fleam tooth
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English fleem, flem (“the rushing of water; current”), probably from Old English flēam (“fleeing; flight; rush”), from Proto-Germanic *flaumaz (“stream; current; flood”), from Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to fly; flow; run”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk flaum (“flood”).
Alternative forms
- fleem
Noun
fleam (plural fleams)
- (UK, dialectal, Northern England) The watercourse or runoff from a mill; millstream
- (UK, dialectal, Northern England) A large trench or gully cut into a meadow in order to drain it
Related terms
- fleme (verb)
Anagrams
- femal, flame
Latin
Verb
fleam
- first-person singular present active subjunctive of fleō
Middle English
Noun
fleam
- (Early Middle English) Alternative form of flem
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *flaumaz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /flæ͜ɑːm/
Noun
flēam m
- escape, flight
- Fram sagum ne biþ nān flēam: hīe nabbaþ nānne anġinn and nānne ende.
- There is no escape from stories: they have no beginning and no end.
- Þā ġeflogenan rǣplingas sind nū ġīet on flēame.
- The escaped prisoners are still on the run (literally "in flight" or "in an escape").
Declension
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
nominative | flēam | flēamas |
accusative | flēam | flēamas |
genitive | flēames | flēama |
dative | flēame | flēamum |
Derived terms
- flīeman
- tōflēam
Descendants
- Middle English: flem, fleem, fleme; flæm, fleam, vlem
- English: fleam (dialectal)
- Scots: fleem