sled

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sledde,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle Dutch sledde,^[2][3][5][6] a variant of slēde,^[3] now slede and slee.^[3][7] The OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English give the source as Middle Low German sledde instead,^[8][9][10] and the OED allows either Middle Flemish or Middle Low German.^[8] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *slidô,^[3][11] from the same root as slīdan, slide,^[2][3][6] and is cognate with Old Saxon slido, Old High German slito, slita, Middle High German slitte, German Schlitten and Old Norse sleði.^{[3][2][7][11]} The word is not found in Old English.^[2] sledge and sleigh are related words for similar vehicles.^[7][10][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A vehicle dragged over hard ground or ice to carry heavy loads: Barnhart dates sledde probably before 1325, after a use as a surname in 1286,^[3] and Etymonline to the early 14th century.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from the later Wycliffite Bible (1388).^[8] Chaucer used the plural sledys once.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The heavy drag for goods was also used from 1570 into the later 17th century to draw condemned people to execution.^[8] From 1590, in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, a sled could be a sledge or sleigh for travel or pleasure,^[8][2] a use now mainly American;^[2][10] the light frame on runners on which children coast down snowy slopes is recorded by 1873.^[2] The verb is American from the start: to carry on a sled in 1718 in Massachusetts, to ride on one in a letter of 1780.^[8][2][3] Merriam-Webster dates the transitive verb to 1706.^[6] Twentieth-century technology added the device towed along the sea bed (1939) and the rocket sled running on rails (1948),^[8] and in American slang a sled has been a car, often a poor one, since 1935.^[14] In English dialects from Scotland to Devon it meant a low frame without wheels for heavy loads such as the harvest.^[15]

Timeline

• 1286 – as a surname.^[3]
• before 1325 – sledde, a vehicle drawn over ground or ice for loads.^[3][8]
• 1570 – a sled for dragging the condemned to execution (obsolete by 1667).^[8]
• 1590 – a sledge or sleigh for travel or recreation.^[8][2]
• 1718 – verb, to carry on a sled.^[8][2][3]
• 1780 – verb, to ride on a sled.^[8][2][3]
• 1873 – a small sled for coasting.^[2]
• 1935 – US slang, a car.^[14]
• 1948 – a rocket sled.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vehicle on runners for carrying people or loads over snow or ice; a sledge or sleigh.^[6][8]
2. A small light frame on runners on which children slide down snowy hills: The kids dragged their sleds up the slope.^[6][2]
3. A rocket-propelled vehicle running on rails, used to test the effects of high acceleration.^[6][8]
4. A device towed along the sea bed.^[8]
5. (US slang) A car, often an old or poor one.^[14]

Verb

1. To carry on a sled.^[6][8]
2. To ride on a sled: We went sledding on the hill behind the school.^[6][8]

Word family

• sledder
• sledlike
• bobsled
• dogsled
• sledding
• sled dog

Related words

• sledge
• sleigh
• slide

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)