flite

Meanings

1. a quarrel, dispute, wrangling.
2. a scolding.

1. to dispute, quarrel, wrangle, brawl.
2. to scold, jeer.
3. to make or utter complaint.

Etymology

From Middle English flit, from Old English flit, ġeflit (“strife, contention”), from Proto-West Germanic *flit. The Old English term had a short vowel, so the modern term must have had its vowel leveled in from the verb at some point in its history. Cognate with Scots flyte (“scolding, chiding, reproof”), Saterland Frisian Fliet (“zeal, diligence”), Dutch vlijt (“zeal, diligence”), German Low German Fliet (“zeal, diligence”), German Fleiß (“zeal, diligence”), Danish flid (“zeal, diligence”), Swedish flit (“zeal, diligence”).