Flanders

//ˈflæn.dɚz// name

name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A cultural region in the north of Belgium. countable, uncountable

    "But Wallonian legislators are blocking the changes, fearing that their power is eroding, that the Flemish are doing some legal ethnic cleansing and that a divided Belgium will end the subsidies that flow south from richer Flanders."

  2. 2
    A historical county of Western Europe; in full, County of Flanders. countable, uncountable

    "When you went / Ambassador to the Emperor, you made bold / To carry into Flanders the great seal."

  3. 3
    A region of Belgium. Official name: Flemish Region. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A community of Belgium. Official name: Flemish Community. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    Two provinces in Belgian Flanders, West Flanders and East Flanders. countable, uncountable

    "Ellipsis of West Flanders: a province of Flanders, Belgium."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    Ellipsis of French Flanders: a former province of France. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  2. 7
    Ellipsis of French Flanders: a region of France. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  3. 8
    Ellipsis of Zeelandic Flanders: a region of Zeeland, the Netherlands. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  4. 9
    The principal railway station in Lille, capital of the above. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    An unincorporated community in Mount Olive, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. countable, uncountable
  6. 11
    A surname. countable, uncountable

Example

More examples

"In Flanders between 10 and 20 percent of professors and lecturers teaching in English did not attain the required language level."

Etymology

From Middle English Flaunders, Flaundress, flawndirs, from Old French Flandres, from Middle Dutch Vlâendren pl, from Vlander, from Old Frisian, from Proto-Germanic *flaumdrą (“waterlogged land”), from *flaumaz (“flowing, current (water)”) (compare Old High German weraltfloum (“transitoriness of life”), Old Norse flaumr (“eddy”)), from Proto-Indo-European *plow-m- (“flow”) (compare Ancient Greek πλῠ́μα (plŭ́ma, “dishwater, washing water”)). More at flow. "Waterlogged" refers to the mudflats and salt marshes common to coastal Flanders.

Related phrases

east flandersfrench flandersrailway stationwest flanders

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.