Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 1. plā-k- : plə-k-, ple-k- : plō̆-k-, plei-k-, and pelə-g- : plā-g- : plə-g- 'flat, wide, broad; spread out'
Semantic Field(s): Flat, Wide, Broad, to Strew, Spread Out
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | flēan | vb.str | to flay | ASD/W7 |
| flōc | n.neut | fluke | W7 | |
| flōh | n.fem | (flat) piece of stone | W7 | |
| Middle English: | flagge | n | reed, rush | W7 |
| flake | n | flake | W7 | |
| flaw | n | flaw | W7 | |
| fluke | n | fluke | W7 | |
| placebo | n | placebo | W7 | |
| plai(d) | n | plea | W7 | |
| plaiden | vb | to plead, institute lawsuit | W7 | |
| plank | n | plank | W7 | |
| plesaunt | adj | pleasant | W7 | |
| plesen | vb | to please | W7 | |
| souple | adj | supple | W7 | |
| supplicaten | vb | to supplicate | W7 | |
| English: | Archipelago | prop.n | Aegean Sea | AHD/W7 |
| archipelago | n | sea/expanse of water with scattered islands | AHD/W7 | |
| complacent | adj | satisfied | AHD/W7 | |
| flag | n | hard evenly stratified stone | AHD/W7 | |
| flake | n | thin piece, small part | AHD/W7 | |
| flake | n | tray/platform for drying foodstuffs | AHD/W7 | |
| flaw | n | fault, defect, fragment | AHD/W7 | |
| floe | n | large floating ice sheet | AHD/W7 | |
| fluke | n | sole, flatfish | AHD/W7 | |
| implacable | adj | not placable | LRC | |
| pelagic | adj | oceanic, re: open sea | AHD/W7 | |
| placable | adj | tolerant, easily calmed/pacified | AHD | |
| placate | vb.trans | to soothe, appease, mollify | AHD/W7 | |
| placebo | n | vespers for dead in Roman Catholic Church | AHD/W7 | |
| placenta | n | vascular organ uniting fetus to mammalian uterus | AHD/W7 | |
| placid | adj | peaceful, undisturbed | AHD/W7 | |
| placoderm | n | (extinct) fish with bony armor plates | AHD | |
| placoid | adj | re: elasmobranch scale with enamel-tipped spine | AHD/W7 | |
| plagal | adj | having keynote on 4th scale step | AHD/W7 | |
| plagiary | n | plagiarist | AHD/W7 | |
| planchet | n | coin blank: flat metal disk | AHD | |
| plank | n | thick heavy board | AHD/W7 | |
| playa | n | flat bottom of undrained desert basin | AHD/W7 | |
| plea | n | legal suit/action | AHD/W7 | |
| plead, pled | vb | to argue case/cause in law court | AHD/W7 | |
| pleasant | adj | agreeable, giving pleasure | AHD/W7 | |
| please | vb | to give/afford pleasure/satisfaction | AHD/W7 | |
| supple | adj | compliant, obsequious | AHD/W7 | |
| supplicate | vb | to make humble entreaty | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | archipel | n | archipelago | CDC |
| vlae(ghe)n | vb | to flay | ASD | |
| vlag | n | flag | TLL | |
| vlakte | n | plain | TLL | |
| Old High German: | flah | adj | smooth | W7 |
| German: | Archipel | n | archipelago | CDC |
| Flagge | n | flag | TLL | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | flaga | n | slab | W7 |
| flaki | adj | smooth | W7 | |
| Icelandic: | flā | vb | to flay | ASD |
| flōki | n.masc | (kind of) halibut | ASD | |
| Norwegian: | flak | n | disk | W7 |
| flo | n | flat layer | W7 | |
| Danish: | flag | n | flag | TLL |
| Swedish: | flaga | n | flake, flaw | W7 |
| flagg | n | flag | TLL | |
| flå | vb | to flay | ASD | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | complacens, complacentis | adj/vb.ptc | pleasing, trying to please | W7 |
| complaceo, complacēre | vb | to please greatly | W7 | |
| pelagicus | adj | re: deep sea | W7 | |
| pelagus | n | sea | AHD | |
| placatus | vb.ptc | pleased, placated | W7 | |
| placenta | n.fem | flat cake | W7 | |
| placeō, placēre, placuī, placitum | vb | to please, placate | LRC | |
| placidus | adj | calm, tranquil, placid | W7 | |
| placitus | vb.ptc | placated | W7 | |
| placo, placāre | vb | to please, placate | W7 | |
| plaga | n.fem | flat surface, tract | W7 | |
| plaga | n.fem | net, snare, trap | W7 | |
| plagiārius | n.masc | kidnapper; plagiarist | W7 | |
| plagium | n.neut | hunting net | W7 | |
| planca | adj | one with flat feet | W7 | |
| plico, plicāre | vb | to fold | W7 | |
| supplex, supplicis | adj | kneeling, suppliant, submissive | W7 | |
| supplico, supplicare | vb | to kneel, beseech, supplicate | W7 | |
| Medieval Latin: | placitum | n.neut | decree, decision | W7 |
| Old Portuguese: | arcepelago | n | archipelago | CDC |
| Portuguese: | archipelago | n | archipelago | CDC |
| Old Spanish: | arcipielago | n | archipelago | CDC |
| Spanish: | archipielago | n | archipelago | CDC |
| playa | n.fem | beach | W7 | |
| Old French: | plaid | n.masc | plea | W7 |
| plait | n.masc | plea | W7 | |
| souple | adj | supple, submissive | W7 | |
| Old North French: | planke | n.fem | plank | W7 |
| Middle French: | plaid | n.masc | plea | W7 |
| plaidier | vb | to plead | W7 | |
| plairir | vb | to please | W7 | |
| plaisant | adj | pleasant | W7 | |
| plaisir | n.masc | pleasure | W7 | |
| French: | archipelague | n | archipelago | CDC |
| Old Occitan: | archipel | n | archipelago | CDC |
| Italian: | arcipelago | n.masc | archipelago, chief sea | W7 |
| pelago | n | sea | AHD | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Homeric Greek: | πέλαγος | n.masc | (open) sea | LRC |
| Greek: | pelagikos | adj | re: sea | W7 |
| pelagos | n | sea | AHD | |
| Πελασγικός | adj | Pelasgian | LRC | |
| plagios | adj | oblique, sideways | W7 | |
| plagos | n.masc | side | W7 | |
| plakous | adj | flat, cake-shaped | W7 | |
| plax | n.fem | flat surface | W7 | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| ptc | = | participle |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| trans | = | transitive |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |