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Etymology and origin of the English word slew

Pronunciation

slew1 swampy place

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1708 Samuel Sewall's diary
Inherited from
Old English sloh

Etymology

The swampy place is a North American spelling of slough, a muddy hollow or bog,[2][3][4][5] and the OED groups it with the spellings of Middle English slō.[4] The Middle English noun is inherited from Old English slōh (“soft, muddy ground”),[3][6][4] a word of uncertain origin;[3][4] Etymonline compares Middle Low German sloch (“muddy place”) and Middle High German sluoche (“ditch”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A marshy or reedy pool or backwater: 1708, in Samuel Sewall's diary.[4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart calls the spelling American English,[2] and the OED labels the sense as used in the United States and Canada;[4] the Dictionary of Canadian English lists slew with a reference to slough.[7] D. H. Lawrence used it more generally in The Rainbow (1915) for an expanse of water, a rare use.[4][5] In coal mining it was also a technical term, recorded in a glossary of 1883.[4]

Timeline

  • 1708 – a marshy pool, pond or backwater, in North America.[4][2][3]
  • 1883 – a term in coal mining.[4]
  • 1915 – an expanse or mass of water.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (North America) A marshy or reedy pool, pond or backwater; a slough.[4][5][2]
  2. (rare) An expanse or mass of water.[4][5]

slew2 turn, swing

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1769 Falconer's Universal Dictionary of the Marine

Etymology

The verb meaning to turn or swing round is of unknown origin.[4][5][3][8][9][10][11] It was first recorded as a sailors' word, and in the spelling slue, which is still often used;[4][12][8] Barnhart dates the spelling slew to 1834.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To turn a thing round on its own axis, or without moving it from its place, in nautical and military use: 1769, in William Falconer's Universal Dictionary of the Marine.[4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline sees the original sea sense as turning something, such as a mast or spar, on its axis without shifting it.[3][9] The verb was in general use by about 1825, and it was also intransitive, to swing round, from 1823; more recently it is used of a motor vehicle that skids out of control.[4] In Australia and New Zealand it meant to beat or outwit someone (from 1813), and to get slewed was to lose one's way in the bush.[4][13] The participle slewed, drunk, is old nautical slang, recorded from 1801 in Etymonline,[3] from the 19th century in Hoad,[8] and the verb was used for "to make drunk" from 1888.[4] The noun, a turn or twist, or the position into which a thing has been turned, dates from about 1860.[4][9][5] Wright's dialect dictionary found the verb in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland, England and Australia for to twist, swerve or swing round.[14] From 1958 it was used of a control mechanism or electronic device, as in slew rate.[4][5] Slew-foot, a clumsy person who walks with the feet turned out, is from 1896.[3]

Timeline

  • 1769 – to turn a spar or the like on its axis, a nautical and military word.[4][2]
  • 1801 – slewed, drunk, in nautical slang.[3]
  • 1813 – in Australia and New Zealand, to beat or outwit.[4]
  • 1823 – intransitive, to turn about, swing round.[4]
  • c. 1825 – in general use, to turn something round.[4]
  • 1834 – the spelling slew, in Michael Scott's Cruise of the Midge.[2]
  • c. 1860 – noun, a turn or twist.[4][9]
  • 1896 – slew-foot, a clumsy person.[3]
  • 1958 – of a control mechanism or electronic device.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To turn something round on its own axis or without moving it from its place, originally a ship's mast or spar.[9][4][11]
  2. To turn, twist or swing round, often awkwardly: She slewed round on the bench to look at him.[11][9][4]
  3. Of a vehicle, to skid and slide sideways out of control.[4]
  4. (Australia and New Zealand, informal) To beat or outwit.[4][13]

Noun

  1. The act of slewing; a turn or twist, or the position into which a thing has been turned.[4][5][11][9]

Word family

  • slew rate

slew3 large number

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1839 Daniel P. Thompson's The Green Mountain Boys
Borrowed from
Irish sluagh
Ultimate origin
Proto-Celtic *slougos

Etymology

The large number is borrowed from Irish sluagh (“crowd, multitude, host”),[4][2][6][9][5][15][3] now spelled slua;[4][5] Wiktionary also names Scottish Gaelic sluagh.[1] The Irish word is from Old Irish slúag,[6] from Proto-Celtic *slougos (“troop, army”),[1] which Barnhart takes back to Proto-Indo-European *slougos.[2] The same Gaelic word is the first element of slogan, originally a battle cry.[3][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

A very large number or amount: 1839, in Daniel P. Thompson's The Green Mountain Boys;[4][3][9] Barnhart dates the same quotation to 1840.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word began as American English,[2][3][17] and the Shorter Oxford still labels it colloquial and chiefly North American.[5] It is also used in the plural ("slews of work"),[4][9] and is sometimes spelled slue.[9][6]

Timeline

  • 1839 – a large number or amount, in American English.[4][9][3] Barnhart dates it to 1840.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (informal) A large number or amount; a lot: a slew of new complaints.[6][9][5][4]

Usage notes

Slew is also the past tense of slay.[18][11][19] In basket-making a slew is a filling of two or more rods worked together (from 1907), of uncertain origin, perhaps the noun of the verb "to turn".[4][5][9] In Yorkshire and Somerset dialect slew was also a slow-worm.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Dollinger, Stefan, ed., A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (online), Vancouver: University of British Columbia, dchp.arts.ubc.ca
  8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
  13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ a b 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)
  15. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  16. ^ Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  17. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  18. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  19. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul

Related etymologies

  • ass · also from Old Irish
  • cross · also from Old Irish
  • trousers · also from Irish
  • puck · also from Irish
  • punt · also from Irish
  • bog · also from Irish
  • banshee · also from Irish
  • galore · also from Irish
Cite this entry

“Slew.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/slew. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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