flesh
The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat; the physical body as opposed to the spirit.
Etymology
Modern English flesh comes from Old English flǣsc "flesh, meat, body," from Proto-Germanic *flaiski, possibly from PIE *pleh₁-ḱ- or *pleys- "to tear, to split, to flay." The semantic development is from "something torn or flayed" to "the meat/tissue itself." The word has no clear cognates outside Germanic — German Fleisch, Dutch vlees, and Old Norse flesk (which gave English flitch, a side of bacon) are the main relatives. The PIE connection is debated; some scholars link it to *plew- "to flow" (referring to blood), while others favour the "flaying" etymology. Within English, flesh took on theological weight in biblical translations, contrasting with spirit — "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." The now-archaic fleshmonger meant "butcher" before acquiring its more colourful figurative meaning.
The Journey: *pleh₁ḱ- → flesh
*pleh₁-ḱ-
*flaiski
flǣsc
flesh, flesch
flesh
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *pleh₁ḱ-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| German | Fleisch | flesh, meat |
| Dutch | vlees | meat |
| Old Norse | flesk | flesh, bacon |
| Old High German | fleisc | flesh |
| Danish | flæsk | pork, bacon |
Did You Know?
Danish flæsk specifically means "pork" or "bacon" — and it is the direct source of the English word flitch (a side of cured bacon). The word flesh itself once meant simply "meat for eating" without any metaphysical overtones; its spiritual sense ("the flesh versus the spirit") was reinforced by biblical translation traditions.