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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

flame.

The visible part of fire; a stream of burning vapour or gas, emitting light and heat.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fleɪm/
  1. The visible part of fire; a stream of burning vapour or gas, emitting light and heat.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A romantic partner or lover in a usually short-lived but passionate affair.

    countable · uncountable
  3. An aggressively insulting criticism or remark.

    Internet · countable · dated · uncountable
  4. A brilliant reddish orange-gold fiery colour.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A brilliant reddish orange-gold fiery colour. flame: flame

    countable · uncountable
  6. The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the curl.

    countable · uncountable
    The cello has a two-piece back with a beautiful narrow flame.
  7. Burning zeal, passion, imagination, excitement, or anger.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A variety of carnation.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English flawme, blend of Old French flame and flambe, flamble, the first from Latin flamma, the second from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma, both from pre-Latin *fladma; Proto-Italic *flagmā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shimmer, gleam, shine”). Displaced native Old English līeġ.

adj/fleɪm/
  1. Of a brilliant reddish orange-gold colour, like that of a flame.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English flawme, blend of Old French flame and flambe, flamble, the first from Latin flamma, the second from Latin flammula, diminutive of flamma, both from pre-Latin *fladma; Proto-Italic *flagmā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shimmer, gleam, shine”). Displaced native Old English līeġ.

verb/fleɪm/
  1. To produce flames; to burn with a flame or blaze.

  2. To burst forth like flame; to break out in violence of passion; to be kindled with zeal or ardour.

  3. To post a destructively critical or abusive message (to somebody).

    Internet · ambitransitive
    I flamed him for spamming in my favourite newsgroup.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English flawmen, from Old French flamber, flammer.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.