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Origin and history of floe

floe(n.)

1817, first used by Arctic explorers, probably from Norwegian flo "layer, slab," from Old Norse flo, from Proto-Germanic *floho-, from PIE root *plak- (1) "to be flat." Related to first element in flagstone. Earlier explorers used flake. Floe-rat was a seal-hunter's name for the ringed seal (1862).

also from 1817

Entries linking to floe

flagstone(n.)

"any rock which splits easily into flags," 1730, from flag (n.2) "flat, split stone" + stone (n.).

*plak-(1)

also *plāk-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to be flat;" extension of root *pele- (2) "flat; to spread."

It might form all or part of: flag (n.2) "flat stone for paving;" flagstone; flake (n.) "thin flat piece,; flaw; floe; fluke (n.3) "flatfish;" placenta; plagal; plagiarism; plagio-; planchet; plank.

It might also be the source of: Greek plakoeis "flat," plax "level surface, anything flat;" Lettish plakt "to become flat;" Old Norse flaga "layer of earth," Norwegian flag "open sea," Old English floh "piece of stone, fragment," Old High German fluoh "cliff."

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    Trends of floe

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    flake
    "thin flat piece of snow; a particle," early 14c., also flauke, flagge, which is of uncertain origin, possibly from Old English *flacca "flakes of snow," or from cognate Old Norse flak "flat piece," from Proto-Germanic *flakaz (source also of Middle Dutch vlac, Dutch vlak "flat,
    ice
    Old English is "ice, piece of ice" (also the name of the Anglo-Saxon rune for -i-), from Proto-Germanic *is- "ice" (source also of Old Norse iss, Old Frisian is, Dutch ijs, German Eis), of uncertain origin; possible relatives are Avestan aexa- "frost, ice," isu- "frosty, icy;" Af
    pivot
    "pin on which a wheel or other object turns," 1610s, from French pivot, from Old French pivot "hinge pin, pivot" (12c.), also "penis," a word of uncertain origin. Pevetsheres, evidently some kind of shears, is mentioned in a will registered in York in 1398. Figurative sense of "t
    booze
    "alcoholic drink," by 1570s, also bouze (in poetry rhyming with carouse), also as a verb, probably a variant of Middle English bous "intoxicating drink," (mid-14c.), which is from Middle Dutch buse "drinking vessel" (also as a verb, busen "to drink heavily"), which is related to
    crux
    1814, "a cross," from Latin crux "cross," a word of uncertain origin. Sometimes said to be cognate with Irish cruach "heap, hill," Gaulish *krouka "summit," Old Norse hryggr "backbone," Old English hrycg "back." But de Vaan is suspicious: The Celtic and Gm. forms are often recon
    silver lining
    a "bright side" which proverbially accompanies even the darkest trouble; by 1843, apparently from oft-quoted lines from Milton's "Comus," where the silver lining is the light of the moon shining from behind the cloud. Was I deceived? or did a sable cloud Turn forth her silver
    look
    Old English locian "use the eyes for seeing, gaze, look, behold, spy," from West Germanic *lokjan (source also of Old Saxon lokon "see, look, spy," Middle Dutch loeken "to look," Old High German luogen, German dialectal lugen "to look out"), a word of unknown origin. Breton lagud
    partner
    c. 1300, partiner, "a sharer or partaker in anything," altered from parcener (late 13c.), from Old French parçonier "partner, associate; joint owner, joint heir," from parçon "partition, division. portion, share, lot," from Latin partitionem (nominative partitio) "a sharing, part
    noble
    c. 1200, "illustrious, distinguished, of high rank or birth," from Old French noble "of noble bearing or birth," from Latin nobilis "well-known, famous, renowned; excellent, superior, splendid; high-born, of superior birth," earlier *gnobilis, literally "knowable," from gnoscere
    symptom
    "a departure from normal function or form as an expression or evidence of a disease," late 14c., sinthoma, from Medieval Latin sinthoma "symptom of a disease," altered from Late Latin symptoma, from Greek symptoma "a happening, accident, disease," from stem of sympiptein "to befa

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