Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Flesh

Flesh \flesh\ , noun;
1. The soft substance of a human or other animal body, consisting of muscle and fat
2. The body, especially as distinguished from the spirit or soul
3. A person's family or relatives
4. Botany: The soft, pulpy portion of a fruit, vegetable, etc. as distinguished from the core, skin, shell, etc.
verb;
1. To plunge (a weapon) into the flesh
2. Hunting: To feed (a hawk or hound) with flesh in order to make it more eager for the chase
3. To inflame the ardor or passions
4. Archaic: To satiate with flesh or fleshly enjoyments; surfeit; glut

The origin of flesh is Old English flæsc ("flesh, meat" and "near kindred") from a common Western and Northern Germanic word, flesk. The origin of flesk is uncertain, but it may have come from Proto-Germanic *flaiskoz-. Flesh took on its figurative sense of "animal or physical nature of man" early on (1200's) in the Bible. The verb flesh with the hunting definition is first attested in the 1520's and other verb definitions developed in the late 1600's.

Fun fact: In Old English there was a poetry word for body, which was flæsc-hama, literally "flesh-home".

No comments:

Post a Comment