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fleam. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
fleam, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
fleam in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
fleam you have here. The definition of the word
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fleam, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
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
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
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Translations
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
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
Anagrams
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
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
Declension of fleam (strong a-stem)
Derived terms
Descendants