Meaning

verb praise somewhat dishonestly

adjective having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another

adjective having a relatively broad surface in relation to depth or thickness

origin*From Middle English flatteren, flateren (“to flutter, float, fawn over”), probably a conflation of Old English floterian, flotorian (“to flutter, float, be disquieted”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotrōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną (“to be floating”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow, swim”), equivalent to float + -er; and Old Norse flaðra (“to fawn on someone, flatter”), from…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0