flint
English
/flɪnt/
noun
Definitions
- A hard, fine-grained quartz that fractures conchoidally and generates sparks when struck.
- A piece of flint, such as a gunflint, used to produce a spark by striking it with a firestriker.
- A small cylinder of some other material of the same function in a cigarette lighter, etc.
- A type of maize/corn with a hard outer hull.
- (figurative) Anything figuratively hard.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English flynt inherited from Old English flint inherited from Proto-Germanic *flintaz derived from Proto-Indo-European *splind- (split, cleave).
Origin
Proto-Indo-European
*splind-
Gloss
split, cleave
Concept
Semantic Field
Basic actions and technology
Ontological Category
Action/Process
Emoji
🪓
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- flinthead English
- flintify English
- flintily English
- flintiness English
- flintknapper English
- flintknapping English
- flintlike English
- flintlock English
- flintstone English
- flintware English
- flintwood English
- flinty English
- gun English
- gunflint English
- head English
- knapper English
- knapping English
- lock English
- nonflint English
- stone English
- unflinty English
- wood English
- plinthus Latin
- πλίνθινος Ancient Greek
- πλίνθος Ancient Greek
- *splind- Proto-Indo-European
- *flintaz Proto-Germanic
- *flintaz- Proto-Germanic
- flint Old English
- flynt Middle English
- flynt ston Middle English
- slinn Irish
- Flint Cebuano
- slind Old Irish
- flindra Norwegian