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Added 9 October 2026

flaw

/flɔː/ noun

In Latin: vitium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about flaw at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A flake, fragment, or shiver.
A thin cake, as of ice.
A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.
There is a flaw in that knife.

verb

To add a flaw to, to make imperfect or defective.
To become imperfect or defective; to crack or break.

noun

A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw.
A storm of short duration.
A sudden burst of noise and disorder

Origin

From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh (“a fragment, piece”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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