"S" Word Origins

slot

Old French

From Old French "esclot," likely related to an Old Norse word meaning "track," and possibly connected to "sleuth."

sloth

Old English

From Old English "slǣwþ," meaning laziness, itself built on the word "slow."

slothful

Origin

From sloth + -ful.

slothlike

Origin

From sloth + -like.

slotter

Origin

From slot + -er.

slouch

Old Norse

Origin uncertain, possibly linked to an Old Norse word for a lazy person.

slough

Middle English

From Middle English "slogh," related to Germanic words for a sheath or shed skin.

Slovak

Origin

From the Slovak word "Slovák," ultimately tied to the same root as "Slav."

Slovakia

German · 1586

First recorded in German in 1586, derived from the Slovak name for the country plus the place-name ending "-ia."

slovakian

Origin

From Slovakia + -an or Slovak + -ian.

sloven

Origin

From Middle English sloveyn, from Middle Flemish sloovin (“a scold”). Related to Middle Dutch sloef (“untidy, shabby”), from Proto-Germanic *slup- + Old French -ain, from Latin -ānus.

Slovenia

Origin

From "Slovene" plus the place-name ending "-ia."

slow

Old English

From Old English "slāw," meaning lazy or sluggish, from a Germanic root also linked to dullness and weariness.

slowcoach

Origin

From slow + coach.

slower

Origin

Formed by adding the comparative suffix "-er" to "slow."

slowfooted

Origin

From slow + footed.

slowly

Old English

From Old English slāwlīce, simply "slow" plus the adverb ending "-ly" — it has meant "at an unhurried pace" for well over a thousand years.

slowpoke

Origin

An American coinage from "slow" plus "poke," an old word meaning a lazy or dawdling person.

SLR

English

An initialism of single-lens reflex.

sludge

Old English

From Middle English words for mud and mire, ultimately related to the Old English root behind "slush" — sludge and slush share a common muddy ancestor.

slue

Origin

Unknown. Attested from the late 18th century.

slug

Middle English

Originally described a slow, lazy person, likely from a Middle English word for sloth or a lazy oaf; the snail-like mollusk and the bullet sense both grew out of related ideas of a slow-moving or solid lump.

slugabed

Origin

From slug (“(obsolete) to move slowly or sluggishly; to lie idle”) + abed (“in bed”).

slugfest

Origin

Originally US, from slug (“to hit very hard”) + -fest.

slugger

Origin

From "slug" (to hit hard) plus the agent suffix "-er" — literally "one who slugs."

sluggish

Origin

Built from "slug" (a lazy person) plus the adjective ending "-ish," meaning "characteristic of a slug."

sluice

Latin

From Anglo-Norman "escluse" meaning floodgate, ultimately from Latin "exclūdere," "to shut out" — the same root as "exclude."

sluiceway

Origin

From sluice + way.

slum

Origin · 1812

First recorded in 1812 as slang, originally meaning simply "a room," before narrowing to mean a poor, run-down neighborhood.

slumber

Old English

From Old English "slūma," related to a Germanic root meaning "slack" or "loose," describing the relaxed state of sleep.

slumberer

Origin

From Middle English slombere, slomerer, slummerare, equivalent to slumber + -er.

slumberland

Origin

From slumber + -land.

slumbersome

Origin

From slumber + -some.

slumbery

Origin

From Middle English slumbry, slombry, slomry, equivalent to slumber + -y. Cognate with Middle Dutch slumerich (“slumbery”).

slump

Norwegian

Likely of Scandinavian origin, related to Danish and Norwegian words for stumbling or falling by chance — the same family that gives us the sense of collapsing suddenly.

slur

Origin

From an old word for thin, fluid mud — the idea of things running together messily gave rise to both "slurred speech" and "slur" as an insult that stains someone's reputation.

slurp

Dutch

From Middle Dutch "slurpen," meaning to sip or slurp — widely considered an onomatopoeic word imitating the sound itself.

slurry

Middle English

Related to Middle English words for thin, fluid mud, and closely connected to "slur" — both describe something runny and messy.

slush

Origin

Possibly a variant of "sludge," or an imitative word like "slosh" — likely a blend of both influences.

slut

Middle English

From Middle English words for a dirty, slovenly, or messy person — usually a woman or maidservant — long before the word narrowed to its modern sexual meaning.

sly

Old Norse

From Old Norse "slœgr," meaning cunning or crafty, literally "capable of striking" — related to the English word "sleight," as in "sleight of hand."

slyboots

Origin

From sly + boots.

slyness

Origin

From Middle English slynesse. By surface analysis, sly + -ness.

smack

Old English

From Old English "smæċċ," meaning taste or flavor, related to a Germanic root for "to taste" — the "hit" and "kiss" senses developed later from the sharp sound involved.

smackdown

Origin · 1990

Formed from "smack down," meaning to defeat decisively, and popularized in the late 1990s by the American professional wrestling show WWF SmackDown!

smackeroonies

Origin

From smackers (“money”) + -oon (“coin, amount”) + -y (“forming diminutives”) but typically only used in the plural. See also smackeroo & ackers.

smackhead

Origin

From smack (“heroin”) + -head.

smackless

Origin

From smack + -less. Compare Middle English smakkeles, smechles (“savourless; lacking appeal or gusto”), West Frisian smakeleas (“tasteless”), Dutch smakeloos, smaakloos (“tasteless”), German geschmacklos (“tasteless”), Danish smagløs (“tasteless”), Swedish smaklös (“tasteless”), Icelandic smekklaus (“tasteless; indecent”).