Flank

How to spell flank

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce flank

What does flank mean?

1. nounThe side of a body, animal, object, or military formation, between the ribs and the hip.
2. verbTo be positioned at the side of something, or to move around the side of an opponent.

Flank in a sentence

• noun

  The horse had a deep scar along its left flank.

• verb

  Two stone lions flank the entrance to the museum.

• noun

  The recipe called for a thick cut of beef flank.

• verb

  The general ordered his cavalry to flank the advancing column.

Where does flank come from?

Language of origin: French

Flank arrived in English in the late Old English and early Middle English period from the Old French word flanc, which meant the side of the body between the ribs and the hip. The French form itself goes back to a Germanic root, related to Old High German hlanca, meaning the loin or the hip region, and the underlying sense seems to have involved something soft or bending at the side. From the literal body part the word spread naturally to the side of an animal, to the cut of meat taken from that part, and to the side of a marching army, which is how it became a standard military term for the outer edge of a formation. The same Germanic family is loosely connected to words about bending and being supple, which fits the soft side of the torso the word originally named. Because the spelling keeps the French silent ending and the unusual nk cluster, it is fixed as f-l-a-n-k rather than any phonetic shortcut.

How the word is built

• flank (side of the body, from Old French flanc)