# flesh

> English word · Noun · IPA /flɛʃ/ · frequency rank #5,128

## Definitions
1. The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat.
2. The skin of a human or animal.
3. Bare arms, bare legs, bare torso.
4. Animal tissue regarded as food; meat (but sometimes excluding fish).
5. The human body as a physical entity.
6. The mortal body of a human being, contrasted with the spirit or soul.
7. The evil and corrupting principle working in man.
8. The soft, often edible, parts of fruits or vegetables.
9. Tenderness of feeling; gentleness.
10. Kindred; stock; race.
11. A yellowish pink color; the color of some Caucasian human skin.

## Etymology
From Middle English flesh, flesch, flæsch, from Old English flǣsċ, from Proto-West Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁ḱ- (“to tear, peel off”).
Cognates
Cognate with Yola vleash, vlesh (“flesh”), North Frisian flaasch, flaosk, Fleesk, fleäsk, floask, flääsk, flååsch (“flesh, meat”), Saterland Frisian Flaask (“flesh, meat”), West Frisian fleis (“flesh, meat”), Cimbrian blòas, vlaisch, vlòas (“flesh, meat”), Dutch vlees, vleesch (“flesh, meat”), German Fleisch (“flesh, meat”), German Low German and Luxembourgish Fleesch (“flesh, meat”), Vilamovian fłaś (“meat; muscle”), Yiddish פֿלייש (fleysh, “flesh, meat”), Danish flæsk (“pork; bacon”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norwegian Nynorsk flesk (“pork; bacon”), Swedish fläsk (“pork”).

## Easily confused with
- **flew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-flew)
- **flex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-flex)
- **foes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-foes)
- **fresh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-fresh)
- **flies** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-flies)
- **flush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-flush)
- **floss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-floss)
- **fleur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-fleur)
- **fleshy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-fleshy)
- **fleshed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flesh-vs-fleshed)
- **FES** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fes-vs-flesh)
- **fish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fish-vs-flesh)
- **fees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fees-vs-flesh)
- **fled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fled-vs-flesh)
- **flee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-flesh)
- **fest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fest-vs-flesh)
- **flea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flea-vs-flesh)
- **fess** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fess-vs-flesh)
- **files** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/files-vs-flesh)
- **flash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flash-vs-flesh)

## Common misspellings (8)
`felsh`, `fflesh`, `flehs`, `fleshh`, `flessh`, `fllesh`, `flseh`, `lfesh`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flesh