Fling
Middle English (in the sense ‘go violently’): perhaps related to Old Norse flengja ‘flog’. The main verb sense is based on an earlier sense ‘reckless movement of the body’ and dates from the early 19th century.
wiktionary
From Middle English fling, from the verb (see below). Compare Icelandic flengur(“a fast sprint”).
From Middle English flingen, flengen, from Old Norse flengja(“to whip”), from Proto-Germanic *flangijaną(“to beat, whip”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k-(“to beat”). Cognate with Icelandic flengja(“to spank”), Norwegian flengja(“to rip, tear, or fling open”).
etymonline
fling (v.)
c. 1300, "to dash, run, rush," probably from or related to Old Norse flengja "to flog," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *flang- (source also of Old Swedish flenga "strike," Danish flænge "slash, gash"), from a nasalized variant of PIE root *plak- (2) "to strike." Meaning "to throw, cast, hurl" is from mid-14c. An obsolete word for "streetwalker, harlot" was fling-stink (1670s). Related: Flung; flinging, but in Middle English with past tense flang, past participle flungen.
fling (n.)
early 14c., "attempt, attack," (in phrase make a fling), from fling (v.). Hence have a fling at, etc. "make a try." From 1560s as "a wild dash, an excited kicking up." Sense of "period of indulgence on the eve of responsibilities" first attested 1827. Meaning "vigorous dance" (associated with the Scottish Highlands) is from 1804.
