fleten
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English flēotan, from Proto-Germanic *fleutaną.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfleːtən/
Verb
fleten
- To go or change position; to experience movement:
- To float; to stay buoyant on the surface of a liquid.
- To move or propel oneself in or on the water; to swim.
- To move on a vessel or raft across water; to be conveyed over a liquid.
- To stream or flow; to move smoothly as a liquid or fluid.
- (Late Middle English) To spread or propel throughout the air.
- (rare) To drag on the ground (used of clothing)
- (rare) To fly; to move across the sky.
- To wander around; to have no direction or consistency.
- To be ephemeral, fleeting, or temporary; to lack permanence.
- (Late Middle English) To remove scum or cream from a fluid.
- (rare) To have something in great or excessive quantity
- (rare) To lack restraint in speech; to describe excessively.
Usage notes
Strong forms are mainly found in Early Middle English.
Conjugation
Conjugation of fleten (weak in -ed/-te or strong class 2)
| infinitive | (to) fleten, flete | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | flete | fleted, flette, flet | |
| 2nd-person singular | fletest | fletedest, flettest, flute, flet | |
| 3rd-person singular | fleteth | fleted, flette, flet | |
| subjunctive singular | flete | fleted1, flette1, flute1 | |
| imperative singular | — | ||
| plural2 | fleten, flete | fleteden, fletede, fletten, flette, fluten, flute | |
| imperative plural | fleteth, flete | — | |
| participles | fletynge, fletende | fleted, floten | |
1Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Related terms
- flete (all ME senses)
References
- “flẹ̄ten, v.(1)).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-05.
- “flẹ̄ten, v.(2)).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-05.
Spanish
Verb
fleten
- inflection of fletar:
- third-person plural present subjunctive
- third-person plural imperative
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