Etymologically
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slice

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /slaɪs/[1]

Etymology

It is, shortened, borrowed from Old French esclice (“splinter, small piece of wood”) (modern éclisse),[2][3][4][5] from the verb esclicier, to splinter, shatter,[2][4] from Frankish *slītan, to split, or another Germanic source,[2][3] related to Old High German slīzan, to tear (see slit).[2][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A splinter or fragment: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

Flat utensils such as a fish slice were called slices from the 14th century,[4] and the sense of a thin, broad piece cut from something is first recorded before 1475, about 1420 in the OED.[2][7] A portion or share is from 1550,[7] and slice of life, a translation of French tranche de vie, from 1890.[7] The verb, to cut into slices, is from before 1475, first of beef;[2][3] the golf sense, to hit a ball so that it curves off course, is by 1890.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – a splinter.[2]
  • before 1475 – a thin piece; to slice (verb).[2]
  • 1550 – a share.[7]
  • 1886 – a slicing stroke.[3]
  • 1890 – slice of life.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A thin, broad piece cut from something: a slice of bread.
  2. A portion or share: a slice of the profits.
  3. A utensil with a broad, flat blade, used for serving food.
  4. (golf, tennis) A stroke that makes the ball curve off to one side.

Verb

  1. To cut into slices, or to cut a slice from.
  2. To cut through with or as with a knife.
  3. To hit a ball with a slice.

Word family

  • sliceable
  • slicer
  • slicingly
  • preslice
  • fish slice
  • slice bar
  • slice of life
  • slit
  • slate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press