# fly

> English word · Noun · IPA /flaɪ/ · frequency rank #1,827

## Definitions
1. Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
2. Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
3. Any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
4. A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
5. A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
6. The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys).
7. A witch's familiar.
8. A parasite.
9. A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.
10. A butterfly (combination of four options).

## Etymology
From Middle English flye, flie, from Old English flȳġe, flēoge (“a fly”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleugā, from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”).
Cognate with Scots flee, Saterland Frisian Fljooge, Dutch vlieg, German Low German Fleeg, German Fliege, Danish flue, Norwegian Bokmål flue, Norwegian Nynorsk fluge, Swedish fluga, Icelandic fluga.

## Easily confused with
- **FM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fm)
- **fu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fu)
- **fo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fo)
- **FS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fs)
- **FN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fn)
- **FP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fp)
- **FW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fw)
- **fy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fy)
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-for)
- **fun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fun)
- **fox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fox)
- **fur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fur)
- **fog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fog)
- **fry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fry)
- **FYI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fyi)
- **foe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-foe)
- **foo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-foo)
- **fro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fro)
- **FTC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-ftc)
- **FSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fly-vs-fsa)

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