flewme

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French fleume,[1] from Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma). For the change of /ɛu̯/ to /ɛː/ before /m/, compare rewme.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈflɛu̯m(ə)/, /ˈflɛ̝ːm(ə)/[2]

Noun

flewme (plural flewmes)

  1. Phlegm as one of the four cardinal humours believed to influence health and mood.
  2. Phlegm, sputum or a similar mucous substance; material coughed up.
  3. A phlegmatic feeling or something that induces or causes it.

Coordinate terms

Descendants

  • English: phlegm (dialectal fleam)
  • Scots: fleem

References

  1. ^ “fleume, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 9 December 2018.
  2. ^ Wright, Joseph (1892), “Chapter IV. The French Element — The Vowels.”, in A grammar of the dialect of Windhill, in the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Dialect Society Series C; 67)‎[1], London: for the English Dialect Society by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co., →OCLC, § 206, page 61.
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