PIE *pleu から、浮く、流れる、語源的には float, fleet, pluvial と同じ。
英語の語源
flow
flow: [OE] The prehistoric Indo-European *pleu-, ancestor of a heterogeneous range of English vocabulary, from fleet to plover, denoted ‘flow, float’. It had a variant form *plō-, which passed into Germanic as *flō-. This formed the basis of the Old English verb flōwan (whence modern English flow) and also of the noun flood. => fleet, flood, fowl, plover, pluvial
flow (v.)
Old English flowan "to flow, stream, issue; become liquid, melt; abound, overflow" (class VII strong verb; past tense fleow, past participle flowen), from Proto-Germanic *flowan "to flow" (cognates: Middle Dutch vloyen, Dutch vloeien, vloeijen "to flow," Old Norse floa "to deluge," Old High German flouwen "to rinse, wash"), probably from PIE *pleu- "flow, float" (see pluvial). The weak form predominated from 14c., but strong past participle flown is occasionally attested through 18c. Related: Flowed; flowing.
flow (n.)
mid-15c., "action of flowing," from flow (v.). Meaning "amount that flows" is from 1807. Sense of "any strong, progressive movement comparable to the flow of a river" is from 1640s. Flow chart attested from 1920 (flow-sheet in same sense from 1912). To go with the flow is by 1977, apparently originally in skiing jargon.
Go with the flow, enjoy the forces, let ankles, knees, hips and waist move subtly to soak up potential disturbances of acceleration and deceleration. ["Ski" magazine, November 1980]
例文
1. She unbound her hair and let it flow loose in the wind.
彼女は髪をほどいて、風になびかせた。
2.These dams have restricted the flow of the river downstream.
これらの堤防は川の流れを制限している。
3.A French-based pharmaceuticals company ran into cash- flow problems and faced liquidation.
フランスの製薬会社が資金繰り問題に陥り、清算の危機に瀕している。
4.She watched the frantic flow of cars and buses along the street.
彼女は街の乗用車とバスが合流するロール車の流れを見つめていた。
5.A barrage would halt the flow upstream and lift the water level.