different between improbable vs fluke

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French improbable, from im- +? probable.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?p??b?bl?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?p??b?bl?/
• Hyphenation: im?prob?a?ble

Adjective

improbable (comparative more improbable, superlative most improbable)

1. Not likely to be true.

2. Not likely to happen.

Antonyms

• probable

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• impossible

Catalan

Adjective

improbable (masculine and feminine plural improbables)

1. improbable, unlikely

   Antonym: probable

Derived terms

• improbablement

Related terms

• improbabilitat

Further reading

• “improbable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “improbable” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “improbable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “improbable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From im- +? probable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.p??.babl/

Adjective

improbable (plural improbables)

1. unlikely, improbable (not likely)

   Synonym: peu probable

Further reading

• “improbable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Alternative forms

• improbábel

Adjective

improbable m or f (plural improbables)

1. improbable (not likely to happen)

   Antonym: probable

Derived terms

• improbabilidade

Further reading

• “improbable” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Spanish

Adjective

improbable (plural improbables)

1. improbable, unlikely

   Antonym: probable

Derived terms

Further reading

• “improbable” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: flo?ok IPA^(key): /flu?k/
• (US) enPR: flo?ok IPA^(key): /fluk/
• (obsolete) enPR: flyo?ok IPA^(key): /flju?k/
• Rhymes: -u?k

Etymology 1

Of uncertain or obscure origin, perhaps dialectal. It seems to have originally referred to a lucky shot at billiards. Possibly connected to sense 3, referring to whales' use of flukes to move rapidly.

Noun

fluke (plural flukes)

1. A lucky or improbable occurrence, with the implication that the occurrence could not be repeated.

Synonyms

• glitch

Translations

Verb

fluke (third-person singular simple present flukes, present participle fluking, simple past and past participle fluked)

1. To obtain a successful outcome by pure chance.

2. (snooker) To fortuitously pot a ball in an unintended way.

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old English fl?c (“flatfish”), of Germanic origin, related to German flach (“flat”), Old Norse floke (“flatfish”), all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flakaz.

Noun

fluke (plural flukes)

1. A flounder.
2. A trematode; a parasitic flatworm of the Trematoda class, related to the tapeworm.

Derived terms

flounder

• Gulf fluke (Paralichthys albiguttus)
• long fluke (Hippoglossoides limandoides)
• pole fluke (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus)
• sail fluke (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis)
• sand fluke (Microstomus microcephalus, Hippoglossoides platessoides)

trematode

• American fluke (Fascioloides magna)
• bile fluke
• blood fluke
• bladder fluke
• cat liver fluke
• cecal fluke (Postharmostomum gallinum)
• Chinese liver fluke (Clonorchis sinensis, syn. Opisthorchis sinensis)
• deer fluke (Fascioloides magna)
• eye fluke
• flukeworm
• giant intestinal fluke (Fasciolopsis buski)
• giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna)
• lancet fluke, lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum)
• liver fluke
• lung fluke (Paragonimus spp.)

Etymology 3

Possibly as Etymology 2 or from Middle Low German flügel (“wing”), from Old High German vlügel, from Proto-Germanic *flugilaz (“wing”).

Noun

fluke (plural flukes)

1. Either of the two lobes of a whale's or similar creature's tail.

2. (nautical) Any of the triangular blades at the end of an anchor, designed to catch the ground.

3. A metal hook on the head of certain staff weapons (such as a bill), made in various forms depending on function, whether used for grappling or to penetrate armour when swung at an opponent.

4. In general, a winglike formation on a central piece.

5. Waste cotton.

Derived terms

• turn flukes

Translations

Further reading

• fluke on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• summer flounder on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• trematoda on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• James Orchard Halliwell (1846) , “FLUKE”, in A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs, and Ancient Customs, from the Fourteenth Century. [...] In Two Volumes, volume I (A–I), London: John Russell Smith, […], OCLC 1008510154, page 365, column 2.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “fluke”, in Online Etymology Dictionary