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Origin and history of flux

flux(n.)

late 14c., "abnormally copious flow" of blood, humors, excrement, etc., a pathological condition, from Old French flus "a flowing, a rolling; a bleeding" (Modern French flux), or directly from Latin fluxus (adj.) "flowing, loose, slack," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent).

It also was an early name for dysentery (late 14c., also red flux, bloody flux, etc.). Compare late Old English flewsa, flewsan "excessive flow from a bodily organ," perhaps also "dysentery," which is related to Old English flowan "to flow."

The sense of "continuous succession of changes" is by 1620s.

flux(v.)

early 15c., fluxen, "to flow," in medical writing, from flux (adj.), in medical writing "flowing, fluid," from Latin fluxum, from past participle of fluere "to flow" (see fluent).


also from early 15c.

Entries linking to flux

fluent(adj.)

1580s, "flowing freely" (of water), also, of speakers, "able and nimble in the use of words," from Latin fluentem (nominative fluens) "lax, relaxed," figuratively "flowing, fluent," present participle of fluere "to flow, stream, run, melt," from extended form of PIE *bhleu- "to swell, well up, overflow" (source also of Latin flumen "river;" Greek phluein "to boil over, bubble up," phlein "to abound"), an extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Used interchangeably with fluid (adj.) in 17c. in the sense "changeable, not rigid." Related: Fluently.

flush(n.)

The section of entries for the various flushes in Century Dictionary opens with a caveat:

The several words spelled flush, being mostly dialectal, colloquial, or technical, and scantily recorded in early literature, have become partly confused with one another, and cannot now be entirely disentangled. Words originally different have acquired some meanings very nearly identical, while on the other hand there are some meanings not obviously related which are, nevertheless, to be referred to one original.

Weekley calls it "A very puzzling word."

The sense of "a rush of water" in a stream (1520s), probably is from flush (v.1). From this likely come the extended senses of "rush of emotion or passion" (1610s); "a sudden shooting up" (1773); "act of cleansing (a drain) by flushing" (by 1855); "glow of light or color" (especially sudden redness in the face), 1620s.

Independently from the verb, probably, is the noun sense of "a flight of birds suddenly started up" (1590s).

The meaning "hand of cards all of one suit" (1520s) is of uncertain origin, perhaps formed on the model of French flus (15c.), from Old French flux, flus "a flowing, rolling" (see flux), which, in common with its Italian cognate flusso, is said to have once had a sense of "a run" of cards. The form in English probably was influenced by flush (v.1).

*bhel-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to blow, swell," "with derivatives referring to various round objects and to the notion of tumescent masculinity" [Watkins].

It might form all or part of: bale (n.) "large bundle or package of merchandise prepared for transportation;" baleen; ball (n.1) "round object, compact spherical body;" balloon; ballot; bawd; bold; bole; boll; bollocks; bollix; boulder; boulevard; bowl (n.) "round pot or cup;" bulk; bull (n.1) "bovine male animal;" bullock; bulwark; follicle; folly; fool; foosball; full (v.) "to tread or beat cloth to cleanse or thicken it;" ithyphallic; pall-mall; phallus.

It might also be the source of: Greek phyllon "leaf," phallos "swollen penis;" Latin flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish," folium "leaf;" Old Prussian balsinis "cushion;" Old Norse belgr "bag, bellows;" Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl;" Old Irish bolgaim "I swell," blath "blossom, flower," bolach "pimple," bolg "bag;" Breton bolc'h "flax pod;" Serbian buljiti "to stare, be bug-eyed;" Serbo-Croatian blazina "pillow."

An extended form of the root, *bhelgh- "to swell," forms all or part of: bellows; belly; bilge; billow; bolster; budget; bulge; Excalibur; Firbolgs.

An extended form of the root, *bhleu- "to swell, well up, overflow," forms all or part of: affluent; bloat; confluence; effluent; effluvium; efflux; fluctuate; fluent; fluid; flume; fluor; fluorescence; fluoride; fluoro-; flush (v.1) "spurt, rush out suddenly, flow with force;" fluvial; flux; influence; influenza; influx; mellifluous; phloem; reflux; superfluous.

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    blend
    c. 1300, blenden, "to mix in such a way as to become inextinguishable, mingle, stir up a liquid," in Middle English chiefly in northern writers, from or akin to rare Old English blandan "to mix" (Mercian blondan) or Old Norse blanda "to mix," or a combination of the two; from Pro
    mix
    1530s, transitive, "unite or blend promiscuously into one mass, body, or assemblage," a back-formation from Middle English myxte (early 15c.) "mingled, blended, composed of more than one element, of mixed nature," from Anglo-French mixte (late 13c.), from Latin mixtus, past parti
    conflate
    mid-15c., "to mold or cast from molten metal" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin conflatus, past participle of conflare "to blow up, kindle, light; bring together, compose," also "to melt together," literally "to blow together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see
    rheumatism
    inflammation and pain in the joints, from Late Latin rheumatismus, from Greek rheumatismos, from rheumatizein "suffer from the flux...
    rheum
    head-cold" (13c., Modern French rhume) and directly from Latin rheuma, reuma, from Greek rheuma "discharge from the body, flux...
    course
    .; specifically of menstrual flux from 1560s....
    rate
    early 15c., "estimated value or worth, proportional estimation according to some standard; monetary amount; a proportional part," from Old French rate "price, value" and directly from Medieval Latin rata (pars) "fixed (amount)," from Latin rata "fixed, settled," fem. past partici
    tear
    "fluid drop from the eye," Old English tear "tear, drop, nectar, what is distilled in drops," from earlier teahor, tæhher, from Proto-Germanic *tahr-, *tagr- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian tar, Old High German zahar, German Zähre, Gothic tagr "tear"), from PIE *dakru- (so
    change
    c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),
    combine
    early 15c., "to associate, unite, join two or more things together" (transitive), from Old French combiner (14c.) and directly from Late Latin combinare "to unite, yoke together," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + bini "two by two," adverb from bi- "twice" (from PIE ro

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