- flask
- mid-14c., from M.L. flasco "container, bottle," from L.L. flasconem "bottle," probably from a Gmc. source (cf. O.E. flasce, O.H.G. flaska, M.Du. flasce, Ger. Flasche "bottle"), probably originally meaning "a bottle plaited round, case bottle" (cf. O.H.G. flechtan "to weave," O.E. fleohtan "to braid, plait"), from P.Gmc. base *fleh- (see flax). Another theory traces it to a metathesis of L. vasculum.