Flanked

How to spell flanked

7 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce flanked

What does flanked mean?

1. verbWas positioned at, or stood on, each side of something or someone.

Flanked in a sentence

• The grand entrance was flanked by two carved stone lions.

• The bride walked in, flanked by her two younger sisters.

Where does flanked come from?

Language of origin: French

The word goes back to the Old French noun 'flanc', meaning the fleshy side of the body between the ribs and the hip. That French word was itself of Germanic origin, probably related to an old root suggesting something soft or bent, and it entered English around the 1300s as a noun for the side of an animal or a person. From the physical sense of a body's side, English developed a military use: an army's flank was its vulnerable outer edge, and 'to flank' came to mean positioning forces along that side or attacking it. By extension the verb now simply means to stand or be placed at the side of something, so 'flanked' describes anything with objects ranged on either side. The spelling stays close to the French 'flanc', with the silent link between the 'n' and the hard 'k' caught by the 'nk' ending before the past tense '-ed'.

How the word is built

• flank (side)
• -ed (past tense suffix)