flèche

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See also: fleche, fleché, fléché, Flèche, and La Flèche

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French flèche. Compare fletch.

Pronunciation

Noun

flèche (plural flèches)

  1. (obsolete) An arrow.
  2. (backgammon) Any of the twenty-four points on a backgammon board.
  3. (architecture) A spire or steeple, especially of Gothic style; an object emerging from the ridge of a roof.
  4. (military, fortification) An earthwork consisting of two berms forming an angle with an open gorge.
  5. (fencing) A method of attack with a sword (foil or épée) in which the attacker's back leg crosses in front of the front leg in the offensive move.

Verb

flèche (third-person singular simple present flèches, present participle flèching, simple past and past participle flèched)

  1. (fencing) To attack using the flèche method.

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

    Inherited from Middle French fleche, from Old French fleche, from Vulgar Latin *fleccia, borrowed from Frankish *fliukkijā, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk-, from *plew-.

    Noun

    flèche f (plural flèches)

    1. (archery, symbol) arrow (projectile or symbol)
    2. (architecture) spire
    3. jib
    4. pointer, needle
    5. (fencing) fleche
    6. (informal, figuratively) bright spark, quick study
      Synonym: tête
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • → Dutch: flits
    • → English: flèche

    Verb

    flèche

    1. inflection of flécher:
      1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
      2. second-person singular imperative
    See also

    Etymology 2

    From Middle French fleche, partly from Old French fliche, from Old Norse flikki; and partly from Picard Old French flec, from Middle Dutch vlecke, vlicke, from Old Dutch *flikki, from Proto-West Germanic *flikkī; both from Proto-Germanic *flikkiją (“piece of meat; side of bacon”). Cognate with Middle Low German vlicke (“side of bacon”), Old English fliċċe (“side of bacon”), whence Modern English flitch.

    Noun

    flèche f (plural flèches)

    1. flitch

    Further reading

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