FLEET. A-Sax. fleot. A harbour for vessels, an arm of the sea, a haven ; hence Northfleet, youthfleet, and the Fleet, a tributary of the Thames, which gave name to Fleet Street. The celebrated jurist, Fleta, is said to have adopted that name, about temp. Edw. II., from his l.aviug been a prisoner in the Fleet at the time when he wrote his treatise on the common law. Fuller's Wor. ii. 36(5. There are parishes in cos. Dorset and Lincoln so called.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.