Without the aid of history,
therefore, you would in vain inquire into the derivation of the name, in
connection with which, the learned Huet, Bishop of Avranches[39], calls
upon us to remark, that the names of many places in Normandy end in
_fleur_, as Barfleur, Harfleur, Honfleur, Fiefleur, Vitefleur, &c.; and
that, if, as it is commonly supposed, this termination comes from
_fluctus_, it must have passed through the Saxon, in which language
_fleoten_ signifies _to flow_. Hence we have _flot_, and from _flot,
fleut_ and _fleur_, the last alteration being warranted by the genius of
the French language. The bishop further states, that there are two
facts, affording a decisive proof of this origin: the one, that the
names now terminating in _fleur_, ended anciently _flot_, Barfleur being
Barbeflot, Harfleur Hareflot, and Honfleur Huneflot; the other, that all
places so called are situated where they are washed by the tide. Such is
also the position of the towns in Holland, whose names terminate in
_vliet_, and of those in England, ending in _fleet_, as Purfleet,
Byfleet, &c.
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