## Etymology
From Old English flēos, flīes ('fleece, sheep's wool'), of West Germanic origin. The verb sense 'to swindle' (strip of money as one strips wool) developed in the 16th century.

## AI Etymology
Fleece comes from Old English flēos, flīes ('fleece, sheep's wool'), of West Germanic origin. The verb sense 'to swindle' (strip of money as one strips wool) developed in the 16th century. The development is chiefly inherited within English and its older relatives, with the later form continuing material already present in the language's ancestry. In present use, it is used as a noun and verb meaning "a sheep's woolly coat; also to swindle of money", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as fleecy, fleecer, fleeceable, and fleeced and related forms such as fleeceable, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Old English flēos, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood includes wool, coat, swindle, and cheat, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Money & Finance

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