flemish
/ˈflɛmɪʃ/ verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms flemishes flemishing flemished
- verb (transitive, nautical) Often followed by down: to arrange (a rope) into a neat, flat spiral coil.
- adjective Of or relating to Flanders, either as the historical county of Flanders (the current provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders in Belgium, Zeelandic Flanders in the Netherlands and French Flanders); or as the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium.
- adjective Of or relating to the Belgian standard variety of the Dutch language.
- adjective Of or relating to West Flemish, East Flemish and/or French Flemish dialects of Dutch.
- proper noun Standard Dutch as it is spoken in Flanders.
- proper noun West Flemish (including French Flemish and Zeelandic Flemish) and East Flemish dialects of Dutch.
- proper noun Any of the Low Franconian dialects or languages spoken in northern Belgium, mainly West Flemish, East Flemish, Brabantian dialects of Dutch and Limburgish.
Synonyms
Etymology
The noun is an ellipsis of Flemish coil, so called because the technique of coiling rope in this manner began with sailors from Flanders.
The verb is from Flemish (“of or relating to Flanders”, adjective), from Flemish coil.
From Middle English flemmysshe, from Old English flēmisc, from Old Frisian flāmisk, derived from Proto-Germanic *flaumaz (“flowing, current water”) and *-iskaz. Equivalent to English fleam + -ish. More at Flanders.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “flemish”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details