flying
/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.71 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter extended on both sides with tilde-like curved lines.
adj
Being able to glide through the air.
Example Sentences
- "flying fox"
- "a flying rumour"
- "in a sudden hail of exploding flying glass"
- "Matthew (26—6 to 13), Mark (14—3 to 9), and Luke (7—37 and 38) also heard of, and related, the circumstance of Mary, whom John says (11 — 2) was the sister of Lazarus, anointing the head of Jesus with ointment, yet they neither of them utter a syllable about his raising her brother from the dead. It is difficult to account for this fact, unless we suppose that John was actually dishonest, or that he took up, believed and recorded a flying story, which an occurrence of some kind had given rise to, but which was without any foundation in truth."
- "flying visit"
- "flying column"
Etymology
From Middle English fleynge, fleeʒinge, flihinde, vlyinde, vleoinde, flyand, ffleghand, flighand (also fleoninde, fleonninde, etc.), from Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz (“flying”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”), equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian fljoogend (“flying”), West Frisian fleanend (“flying”), Dutch vliegend (“flying”), German Low German flegend (“flying”), German fliegend (“flying”), Danish flyvende (“flying”), Swedish flygande (“flying”), Icelandic fljúgandi (“flying”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: fleynge, flēogende, *fleugandz, *fleuganą, flyinge