flood (n.)

Old English flōd "a flowing of water, tide, an overflowing of land by water, a deluge, Noah's Flood; mass of water, river, sea, wave," from Proto-Germanic *floduz "flowing water, deluge" (source also of Old Frisian flod, Old Norse floð, Middle Dutch vloet, Dutch vloed, German Flut, Gothic flodus), from suffixed form of PIE verbal root *pleu- "to flow" (also the source of flow). In early modern English often floud. Figurative use, "a great quantity, a sudden abundance," by mid-14c.

flood (v.)

1660s, "to overflow" (transitive), from flood (n.). Intransitive sense "to rise in a flood" is from 1755. Related: Flooded; flooding.

also from 1660s

Entries linking to flood

flow (v.)

Old English flowan "to flow, stream, issue; become liquid, melt; abound, overflow" (class VII strong verb; past tense fleow, past participle flowen), from Proto-Germanic *flowan "to flow" (source also of Middle Dutch vloyen, Dutch vloeien, vloeijen "to flow," Old Norse floa "to deluge," Old High German flouwen "to rinse, wash"), from PIE root *pleu- "to flow." The weak form predominated from 14c., but strong past participle flown is occasionally attested through 18c. Related: Flowed; flowing.

flood-gate (n.)

early 13c. in the figurative sense "opportunity for a great venting" (especially with reference to tears or rain); literal sense is mid-15c. (gate designed to let water in or keep it out as desired, especially the lower gate of a lock); from flood (n.) + gate (n.).

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Trends of flood

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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deluge

late 14c., "an overflowing of water, a great flood, Noah's Flood in Genesis," from Old French deluge (12c.), earlier deluve, from Latin diluvium "flood, inundation," from diluere "wash away," from dis- "away" (see dis-) + -luere, combining form of lavere "to wash" (from PIE root

torrent

c. 1600, "rapid stream," from French torrent (16c.) and directly from Latin torrentem (nominative torrens) "rushing, roaring" (of streams), also "a rushing stream," originally as an adjective "roaring, boiling, burning, parching, hot, inflamed," present participle of torrere "to

deluge

antediluvian

"before Noah's flood," 1640s, from Latin ante "before" (from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "...in front of, before") + diluvium "a flood" (see deluge (n.))....As a noun meaning "person who lived before the Flood," from 1680s. Related: antediluvial (1823)....

neap

"low, lowest," applied to tides which have the least difference of height between the flood and ebb, late 15c., from Old...English nepflod "neap flood," the tide occurring at the end of the first and third quarters of the lunar month, in which...

libation

Hittite lilai- "to let go;" Albanian lyse, lise "a stream;" Welsh lliant "a stream, a sea," llifo "to flow;" Old Irish lie "a flood...;" Breton livad "inundation;" Gaelic lighe "a flood, overflow;" Gothic leithu "fruit wine;" Old Church Slavonic liti, lêju...

lake

There was a Germanic form of the PIE root which yielded Old Norse lögr "sea flood, water," Old English lacu "stream, pool..., pond," lagu "sea flood, water, extent of the sea," leccan "to moisten" (see leak (v.))....

plenty

mid-13c., "abundance; as much as one could desire; an ample supply," from Old French plentee, earlier plentet "abundance, profusion" (12c., Modern French dialectal plenté), from Latin plenitatem (nominative plenitas) "fullness," from plenus "full, filled, greatly crowded; stout,

mass

late 14c., "irregular shaped lump; body of unshaped, coherent matter," from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley c

pile

early 15c., "heap or stack of something," usually consisting of an indefinite number of separate objects arranged in a more or less regular conical or pyramidal form, from Old French pile "a heap, a stack," and directly from Latin pila "a pillar," also "stone barrier, pier" (see

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updated on September 28, 2017

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Dictionary entries near flood

flocculent

flock

floe

flog

flogging

flood

flood-gate

floodlight

flood-plain

flood-tide

floor