sintflut

From Middle High German sinvluot, sintvluot, from Old High German sinfluot, sintfluot, from sin- (“great, eternal”, prefix) + fluot (“flood”), whence modern German Flut. The variant Sündflut is due to association with Sünde (“sin”), as also in cognate Dutch zondvloed. The i-form was almost fully obsolete for 200 years, until it was revived in the early 19th century after the scientific study of Middle High German. During the 20th century, it re-established itself in general use.