flama (Catalan)

Where does "flama" come from?

The Catalan noun 'flama', meaning 'flame'[1], is inherited from the Latin 'flamma'[1]. This Latin term traces back through Proto-Italic '*flagmā'[2] to Proto-Indo-European origins signifying shining and gleaming[2].

Open questions

• The intermediate Proto-Italic and Proto-Indo-European forms are linguistic reconstructions rather than directly attested historical spellings. [2] [3]

Full etymology tree

• flama (Catalan), 'flame'
  • inherited flamma (Latin), 'flame, fire'
    • inherited *flagmā (Proto-Italic), 'flame'
      • inherited *bʰl̥-g-mh₂ (Proto-Indo-European)
        • derived *bʰl̥g- (Proto-Indo-European)
          • derived *bʰel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to sound; to speak, roar, bark'

Ancestors

• flamma (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• ablamar (Catalan)
• flamejar (Catalan)

Sources

1. flama (Catalan) - Wiktionary
2. flamma (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. flagmā (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris