Fleeten

/ˈfliːtən/ verb

Definition

Archaic or dialectal past participle of 'fleet'; to make swift or to move quickly; now rarely used.

Etymology

Old English strong verb form where 'fleet' would have had the past participle 'floten' or similar; 'fleeten' represents a regularized or variant form from Middle English, largely obsolete in modern usage.

Kelly Says

Words like 'fleeten' are fossils from when English had more irregular verbs like German—we used to say 'sing, sang, sung' and 'fleet, flote, floten,' but English standardized most verbs to just add '-ed'.

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