sallow

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsæləʊ/ (UK); /ˈsæloʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

The adjective comes from Middle English salowe,^[2][3][4] from Old English salo, salu “dusky, dark”,^{[2][3][5][4][6]} from Proto-Germanic *salwaz,^[3][5] related to Old High German salo “dirty grey” and Old Norse sǫlr “dirty yellow”.^[3][5][4][6] The noun, a kind of willow, is a separate word, from Old English sealh,^[2][5][4][6] related to Latin salix (“willow”).^[5][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the skin, having a sickly yellow or brownish-yellow colour (before 1000).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept its sense of a sickly yellowish complexion,^[7][2][4] and from 1746 it was applied to things as well.^[7] The verb, to make sallow, is from 1831.^[7] The willow called sallow was named in Old English before 700,^[7] and Etymonline notes that it was used in English Palm Sunday processions before real palm leaves were imported.^[5]

Timeline

• before 700 – the willow (separate word).^[7]
• before 1000 – of a sickly yellow complexion.^[7][3]
• 1746 – applied to things.^[7]
• 1831 – verb, to make sallow.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of a sickly, yellowish colour, especially of the skin or complexion.

Verb

1. To make sallow.

Noun

1. A broad-leaved Old World willow (Salix caprea), with large catkins and tough wood used for charcoal.

Word family

• sallowly
• sallowness
• sallowish
• sallowy
• sally

Related words

• pallid
• willow
• salicylic

Usage notes

Random House lists bilious and jaundiced as synonyms of the adjective.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press