(in O. Eng. flOd, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Flut, Dutch vloed, from the same root as is seen in "flow," "float"), an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land,a deluge, hence "the flood," specifically, the Noachian deluge of Genesis, but also any other catastrophic submersion recorded in the mythology of other nations than the Hebrew (see DELUGE, THE). In the sense of "flowing water," the word is applied to the inflow of the tide, as opposed to "ebb."