fleam
English
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fleam¹
- /fliːm/
Rhymes with -iːm
Where it comes from
From Middle English fleme, fleom, from Old French flieme, flemie (“open vein”), probably via a Proto-Germanic source (compare Old Saxon flēma, Old High German fliotuma, fliodema, Old English flȳtme (“fleam, lancet”)), borrowed from Vulgar Latin fletoma, *fletomus, from Late Latin flebotomus, phlebotomus, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμον (phlebotómon). Compare French flamme, Dutch vlijm, German Fliete, Danish flitte (“fleam”). Doublet of phlebotome.
noun fleams · phleam
- A sharp instrument used to open a vein, to lance gums, or the like. 1831-1850, William Youatt, On the Structure and the Diseases of the Horse A bloodstick - a piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead — is used to strike the fleam into the vein
fleam²
- /fliːm/
Rhymes with -iːm
Where it comes from
From Middle English fleem, flem (“the rushing of water; current”), probably from Old English flēam (“fleeing; flight; rush”), from Proto-Germanic *flaumaz (“stream; current; flood”), from Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to fly; flow; run”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk flaum (“flood”).
noun fleams · fleem
- The watercourse or runoff from a mill; millstream
- A large trench or gully cut into a meadow in order to drain it
Translations
Every language
noun medical instrument
| Ελληνικά | φλεβοτόμος flevotómos |
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Talk about this word "fleam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fleam. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. fleam. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fleam "fleam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fleam.Cite this
@misc{fleam_2026,
title = {fleam},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fleam},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
