Flanders
UK /ˈflɑːn.dəz/ · US /ˈflæn.dəɹz/ proper noun
Forms Flanderses
- proper noun A cultural region in the north of Belgium.
- proper noun A historical county of Western Europe; in full, County of Flanders.
- proper noun A region of Belgium. Official name: Flemish Region.
- proper noun A community of Belgium. Official name: Flemish Community.
- proper noun Two provinces in Belgian Flanders, West Flanders and East Flanders.
- proper noun The principal railway station in Lille, capital of the above.
- proper noun A village in the town of East Lyme, New London County, Connecticut.
- proper noun A historic district in the town of Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Etymology
From Middle English Flaundres, from Anglo-Norman Flaundre, Flaundres, from Middle Dutch Vlâendren pl, from Vlander, from Old Frisian, from Proto-West Germanic *flaumdr (“waterlogged land”), from *flaum (“flowing, current (water)”) (compare Old High German weraltfloum (“transitoriness of life”), Old Norse flaumr (“eddy”)), from Proto-Indo-European *plow-m- (“flow”) (compare Ancient Greek πλῠ́μα (plŭ́ma, “dishwater, washing water”)). More at flow. "Waterlogged" refers to the mudflats and salt marshes common to coastal Flanders.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “Flanders”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details