Forms: 1 flasce, flaxe, 6–7 flaske, 7 flasque, 6– flask. [A word found in nearly all the Teut. and Rom. langs.; whether adopted from late L. into Teut., or conversely, is undetermined. The earliest known examples are in Latin; three different declensional forms appear in med.L., and all of them are represented in the Rom. langs. (1) In Gregory’s Dialogues, c. 600 (II. xviii; cf. I. ix.) the form flascō, flascōnum (whence It. fiascone, F. flacon: see FLAGON) denotes a wooden vessel, apparently a small keg intended to be carried by pedestrians and to contain a supply of wine to be consumed on a journey; it is there stated to be a word belonging to the vulgar speech. In later use the word appears as a synonym of butticula, BOTTLE, and applied to a vessel either of wood, leather, metal, earthenware or glass. The Greek transl. of Gregory’s Dialogues, believed to be of the 8th c., has φλασκίον, which is frequent in Byzantine writers of the 10th c. (2) In the 7th c. Isidore (Etym., XX. vi. § 2) gives the form flasca, which he regards as a derivative of Gr. φιάλη], stating that flascæ were originally made for carrying and storing phialæ (? shallow drinking cups), though afterwards used to contain wine; the form survives in It. fiasca, OF. flache, flasche, flaske, flasque (the last of these survived till 16th c., and in the sense ‘powder-flask’ to a later period). (3) The form flascus is given in Du Cange, but is prob. only a latinized form of It. fiasco, which may represent med.L. flasco (nom.); equivalent forms are Sp. flasco, frasco, Pg. frasco.
The word occurs in all the Teut. langs. exc. Goth., and always as wk. fem.: OE. flasce, more usually flaxe, OHG. flasca (MHG. vlasche, also vlesche with the vowel change normal in some dialects before sch; mod.Ger. flasche), MDu. flassche, flessche (mod.Du. flesch); ON. flaska is doubtful, as it has only been found in the nicknames flǫsku-skegg, flǫsku-bakr, explained by Vigf. as ‘bottle-beard,’ ‘bottle-back’; Icel., Sw. flaska, Da. flaske may be from Ger. In the mod. continental Teut. langs. it is the ordinary word for bottle; in OHG. it had the same wider sense as in OE. (see 1 below).
The OE. word, which would normally have become *flash in mod.E., appears not to have survived into ME. In 16th c. the F. flasque was adopted in the sense powder-flask (the wider sense being then already antiquated in Fr.). The older Fr. sense, a bottle, first appears in Eng. about 1700; whence it was adopted is not clear, but as the word is chiefly associated with Italian wine and oil, it may most naturally be regarded as from the It. fiasco, the etymological identity of which with the already existing Eng. word would be readily perceived.
Scholars who regard the word as of Rom. origin usually accept the view of Diez, that flasco is for *vlasco, a metathesis of *vasclo, from L. vasculum. This is satisfactory with regard to meaning (St. Gregory describes as vascula lignea what he says were vulgarly called flascones), and involves no insuperable difficulty with regard to form, though the phonetic process supposed has no precise parallel in any known instance; for approximately similar phenomena, such as flaba from fābula, see Diez. The early occurrence of the types flascam, flascōnem, and the absence of the type flascum in early use, are somewhat unfavorable to this hypothesis. The assumption that the word is of Teut. origin is chronologically legitimate, and presents no difficulty exc. the absence of any satisfactory etymology. A connection with FLAT a. would be phonetically probable, but there is no evidence that the sb. originally meant a flat vessel. From Teut. the word has been adopted into many other langs.: Lapp flasko, lasko, Hung. palaczk, Polish flasza, Czech flaše.)
† 1. In OE.: A vessel of wood, skin, or other material, for carrying liquor. Obs.
Prob. not widely current in OE.; it occurs chiefly as a rendering of the cognate L. word, which in some glossaries is rendered by butrue.
a. 900. Werferth, Gregory’s Dial., II. xviii. Twa treowene fatu wines fulle ða syndon on folcisc flaxan ȝehatene [orig. quæ vulgo flascones vocantur].
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Mark xiv. 14. Sum man berende sume wæterflaxan [Vulg. lagenam aquæ].
c. 1000. Ælfric, Colloq., in Wr.-Wülcker, 97. Ic bicȝe hyda and fell … and wyrce of him … flaxan.
2. A case of leather or metal (formerly often of horn) carried by soldiers or sportsmen to hold gunpowder. Now usually powder-flask.
[The fig. quot. from Donne is referred by Latham to a supposed sense ‘quiver.’ The Cent. Dict. omits the quot., but gives the sense ‘a quiver, a set of arrows in a quiver,’ quoting (prob. from Nares) a misprinted version of a passage from Fairfax, q.v. in FLASH sb.3]
1549. Privy Council Acts (1890), II. 348. Flaskes, cviij; touche boxes, c.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, III. i. 34. To charge his peece, either with his flask or bandelier.
1630. R. Johnson, Relations of the Most Famous Kingdoms, etc., 217. Every souldier is able to make and furnish himselfe with any furniture whatsoever, even the making of his owne Flaske and Touch-box.
1634. T. Johnson, Parey’s Chirurg., II. (1678), 273. His guard had his flasque full of Gunpowder set on fire, whereby his hands and face were grievously burnt.
1865. Dougall, Shooting (ed. 2), 66. The most pleasant flask to handle is that covered with leather.
fig. 1612–5. Bp. Hall, Contempl., O. T., XX. ix. This sulphurous flaske [Rabshakeh], therefore, dyes in his owne smoke: onely leauing an hatefull stench behind it.
a. 1631. Donne, St. Lucie’s Day, Wks. (Grosart), II. 203.
| The sun is spent, and now his flasks | |
| Send forth light squibbs, no constant rayes. |
b. (See quot.) ? Obs.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), F iij. Powder-flasks, or flasks charged with gun-powder and fitted with a fuse, are also provided, to be thrown upon the enemy’s deck immediately before the assault.
3. A bottle, usually of glass, of spheroidal or bulbous shape, with a long narrow neck; applied esp. to the bottles of this form, protected by a covering of wicker-work or plaited grass, etc., in which wines and olive oil are exported from Italy (also more fully Florence flask); a similar vessel for use in a laboratory. In verse sometimes used loosely for ‘bottle.’ Also, the contents or capacity of a flask.
1693. Southerne, Maid’s Last Prayer, II. i. Gay. He has a thousand good qualities, but they have all a tang of his testy humour, that shows itself in all he says and does: like a drop of oil left in a flask of wine, in every glass you taste it.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 535. A Flask of Wine which holds 3 quarts will cost 18 Stivers.
1701. De Foe, True-born Eng., II. 29.
| The Graduates Study’s grown an easier Task, | |
| While for the Urinal they toss the Flask. |
1705–30. S. Gale, in Bibl. Topog. Brit., III. 33. We waited on him thither, and were entertained with several flasks of excellent Florence.
1708. W. King, Cookery, iv.
| Then for the Bourdeaux you may freely ask, | |
| But the Champaigne is to each Man his Flask. |
1816. J. Smith, The Panorama of Science and Art, II. 12. Having fitted a brass cap, with a valve tied over it, to the mouth of a thin bottle, or Florence flask.
1841. W. Spalding, Italy & It. Isl., II. 42. In many graves earthen flasks, of glass or terra-cotta.
1842. Tennyson, Audley Crt., 26. A flask of cider from his father’s vats.
1878. Huxley, Physiography, 40. It is only necessary to boil water in a glass vessel, such as a Florence flask, in order to observe that the steam remains invisible until exposed to some chilling influence, such as that of a body of cold air.
1882. Ouida, Maremma, I. 191. She had some black bread and a flask of water; he had the same.
† b. A definite quantity of liquid (see quot.).
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Flasque … also a Pottle or five Pints and half, that quantity, formerly of Florence, now of any Wine.
c. A bottle of glass or metal, somewhat flat in shape and of size suitable to be carried in the pocket, intended to contain a supply of wine or other beverage for use on a journey; usually furnished with a screw-top, and (when made of glass) encased in leather for protection.
1814. Scott, Wav., xlv. ‘You shall have it,’ answered Waverley, at the same time raising him in his arms, bearing him to the door of the hut, and giving him some drink from his flask.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xi. 80. We had not a bit of bread nor a drop of wine left; our brandy flasks were also nearly exhausted, and thus we had to contemplate the journey to the summit, and the subsequent descent to the Grands Mulets, without the slightest prospect of physical refreshment.
1861. Dickens, Gt. Expect., xx. He lunched, standing, from a sandwich-box and a pocket-flask of sherry (he seemed to bully his very sandwich as he ate it).
d. (See quot.)
1872. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 16. The New Almaden, which claimed to have a capacity for delivering 4,000 flasks per month, agreed to limit their production to 24,000 per annum. Ibid. (1881), Mining Gloss., Flask.… An iron bottle in which quicksilver is sent to market. It contains 761/2 pounds.
4. Founding. A frame or box used to hold a portion of the mould for casting. [Perh. a distinct word.]
1697. Evelyn, Numismata, vi. 214. Medals are certainly more easily Counterfeited by casting off in the Flask.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Flasque, a Bottle of Sand, bound about with Iron, into which the melted Metal is by Coyners and others poured.
1852–61. Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict., Flask. A term used by ironfounders to express the iron or wood frame intended to receive the sand which forms the upper or the movable part of the mould, into which the molten iron is to be poured from the cupola.
5. s.w. dial. A kind of basket (see quot.).
[In Welsh fflasg; cf. FLASKET (Welsh fflasged), from which this may possibly be a back-formation. Cf. however the use of OF. flache for a certain measure of capacity for peas, etc.]
1888. Elworthy, W. Somerset Word-bk., Flask, the large oval basket used for linen by all washerwomen.
1891. Daily News, 15 May, 7/2. A ‘flask’ containing either a turkey or a goose.
6. attrib. and Comb., as flask-case, -glass, -shaped; also, flask-leather, a fastening for a powder-flask; flask-shell, a mollusk whose shell is flask-shaped.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4572/4. Her Majesty hath been graciously pleased … to Grant unto Jane Tasker … the sole working and making of *Flask-Cases, and covering and casing with Flags, Rushes and Straw, *Flask glasses now used in England, in imitation of those which come from Florence, during the space of fourteen Years.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, III. i. 34. With his flaske at his girdle, or hanging by at Port-flask, or *Flask-leather vpon the right thigh.
1835–6. R. B. Todd, The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology, I. 43/2. The cirrigrada have, in the middle of their lower surface, a large *flask-shaped stomach, the mouth of which is formed like a sucker.
1868. Wood, Homes without H., v. 105. A common British species, the *Flask Shell (Gastrochæna modiolina), is notable for its habit of burrowing through various shells, those of the oyster being often perforated and fixed to the creatures by some natural cement.
