Fleyng

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. An old spelling for moving through the air on wings or by aircraft ; an old spelling for removing the outer skin or hide from an animal
2. Obsolete spelling meaning soaring through the sky ; obsolete spelling meaning peeling the hide off a creature
3. Archaic form denoting airborne travel or wing-borne motion ; archaic form denoting the act of skinning an animal or body

Etymology: "Fleyng" is a Middle English spelling of "flying," the present participle and verbal noun of "fly." It appears in Middle English texts where the spelling "fleyng" reflects the vowel that was written with "ey" in that period. The modern form "flying" comes from Old English "flēogan," a verb meaning to move through the air on wings, which belongs to a Germanic root shared with German "fliegen" and Dutch "vliegen." The Old English verb was a strong verb with a past tense "flēag," and over the Middle English period its vowel shifted, which is why the spelling varied so widely before standardization. "Fleyng" thus records a stage in the word's spelling rather than a separate word with its own meaning.