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Origin and history of flume

flume(n.)

late 12c., flum, "a stream, a river" (senses now obsolete), from Old French flum "running water, stream, river; dysentery," from Latin flumen "flood, stream, running water," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent).

Also "a flood, the Deluge" (13c.). In New England a word for mountain torrents in narrow defiles with near vertical walls (18c.) and in U.S. generally an artificial channel for a stream of water for a mill or some industrial purpose.

The Latin noun also is the source of Italian fiume but has been generally unproductive in English. Fluminal turns up 17c in reference to river-baptism; fluminose and fluminous seem not to have lived out of dictionaries.

flume(v.)

"build a flume" (intrans.), by 1851 as a method of searching stream sediment for gold, from flume (n.). Transitive sense of "carry off (a stream, water) in a flume" is by 1855. Related: Flumed; fluming.

Entries linking to flume

fluent(adj.)

1580s, "flowing freely" (of water), also, of speakers, "able and nimble in the use of words," from Latin fluentem (nominative fluens) "lax, relaxed," figuratively "flowing, fluent," present participle of fluere "to flow, stream, run, melt," from extended form of PIE *bhleu- "to swell, well up, overflow" (source also of Latin flumen "river;" Greek phluein "to boil over, bubble up," phlein "to abound"), an extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Used interchangeably with fluid (adj.) in 17c. in the sense "changeable, not rigid." Related: Fluently.

*bhel-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to blow, swell," "with derivatives referring to various round objects and to the notion of tumescent masculinity" [Watkins].

It might form all or part of: bale (n.) "large bundle or package of merchandise prepared for transportation;" baleen; ball (n.1) "round object, compact spherical body;" balloon; ballot; bawd; bold; bole; boll; bollocks; bollix; boulder; boulevard; bowl (n.) "round pot or cup;" bulk; bull (n.1) "bovine male animal;" bullock; bulwark; follicle; folly; fool; foosball; full (v.) "to tread or beat cloth to cleanse or thicken it;" ithyphallic; pall-mall; phallus.

It might also be the source of: Greek phyllon "leaf," phallos "swollen penis;" Latin flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish," folium "leaf;" Old Prussian balsinis "cushion;" Old Norse belgr "bag, bellows;" Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl;" Old Irish bolgaim "I swell," blath "blossom, flower," bolach "pimple," bolg "bag;" Breton bolc'h "flax pod;" Serbian buljiti "to stare, be bug-eyed;" Serbo-Croatian blazina "pillow."

An extended form of the root, *bhelgh- "to swell," forms all or part of: bellows; belly; bilge; billow; bolster; budget; bulge; Excalibur; Firbolgs.

An extended form of the root, *bhleu- "to swell, well up, overflow," forms all or part of: affluent; bloat; confluence; effluent; effluvium; efflux; fluctuate; fluent; fluid; flume; fluor; fluorescence; fluoride; fluoro-; flush (v.1) "spurt, rush out suddenly, flow with force;" fluvial; flux; influence; influenza; influx; mellifluous; phloem; reflux; superfluous.

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