Added 9 October 2026
fly
/flaɪ/ symbol
In Latin: musca Wiktionary
symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about fly at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
noun
- Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
- Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
- Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
verb
-
To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
Birds of passage fly to warmer regions as it gets colder in winter.
-
To take a flight on a plane; to pilot or crew a plane.
My airline needs me to get clearance before I can fly again.
-
To be in the winged adult stage.
This species flies from late summer until frost.
noun
Origin
From Middle English fflye, flehe, flei, fleie, fley, fleye, fleȝe, flie, fliȝe, flye, vliȝe, vlye, from Old English flēge, flēoge, flīeġe (“a fly”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleugā, from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to flow, fly, run; to splash”), enlargement of *plew- (“to flow, fly, run”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)