French fléchir < Old French fleschir < fleschier, “to bend,” < *flexicare < flexus < flectere, “to bend.”

French fléchir, O. F. fleschir, fleskir has been derived by Förster, Zeitschrift f. rom. Phil., III, p. 262, from a Latin *fleskire < *fiescus < flexus. The assumption of the shift of ks to sk is defended by an appeal to alaskir from laxus, seemingly showing the same metathesis. This phonetic step, which must be assigned to a Latin period, is in both instances certainly unjustifiable, although it has been admitted by excellent authorities. In the Dictionnaire général we find French lâcher derived from a type *lascare < laxare. Here the assumption of metathesis seems to go back to Diez, Etymologisehes Wb., pp. 188 f., who cites as analoga Campanian fisquer for fixer and lusque for luxe; but these forms clearly represent popular deformations of learned words and are accordingly irrelevant.