slip

English has three words spelled slip: to glide or slide, with its nouns; a narrow strip or a cutting; and a creamy clay.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈslɪp/^[4]

slip¹ glide, slide

Etymology

The verb is Middle English slippen, probably borrowed from Middle Low German slippen (“to glide, slide”), or from an unrecorded Old English word,^[1][5][2] cognate with Old High German slīfan and Old Norse sleipr (“slippery”),^[1][6] from Proto-Germanic *slīpaną, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *(s)leib- (“slippery”).^[1][5] Old English had the related adjective slipor (“slippery”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To get away or escape: before 1325, in the Cursor Mundi;^[1] the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[5] To slide out of place is from about 1340.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Slipping and losing one's footing, and figuratively erring, are 14th-century senses;^[2] to cause to slide, to get loose from, and to let go are from the 16th century.^[2] Nouns made from the verb include a sloping landing place for boats (mid-15th century), an act of slipping (1590s), and a mistake, especially a small one (1570s).^[5] To give someone the slip is from the 1560s.^[5] A woman's sleeveless garment easily slipped on is from 1761, originally an outer garment and by 1870 an undergarment.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to escape.^[1]
• c. 1340 – to slide out of place.^[1]
• mid-15th century – a landing place for boats.^[5]
• 1560s – give someone the slip.^[5]
• 1570s – a mistake.^[5]
• 1761 – a woman's garment.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To slide accidentally and lose one's balance or footing.
2. To move smoothly, quietly or stealthily.
3. To put on or take off easily or quickly: slip on a sweater.
4. To pass gradually or decline: standards slipped.
5. To escape or get free from: slip one's mind.

Noun

1. An act of slipping.
2. A small mistake: a slip of the tongue.
3. A woman's sleeveless undergarment.
4. A sloping place for landing or building ships; a slipway.

Word family

• slipper
• slippery
• slipshod
• landslip
• slipknot
• slipway

slip² narrow strip; cutting

Etymology

The strip is Middle English slyp, slippe, probably borrowed from Middle Low German slippe (“cut, slit, lappet”) or Middle Dutch slippe,^[1][5][6][7] perhaps related to tōslīfan (“to split”) (see sliver).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The edge of a garment: 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum,^[1] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A narrow piece or strip in general is from 1555,^[1] the 1550s in Etymonline.^[5] A twig or sprig cut for grafting is from 1495 in the OED and 1530, in Palsgrave, in Barnhart,^[8][1] which gave the sense of a slender young person, as in a slip of a girl.^[1][3] A narrow piece of paper is by the 1680s, as in pink slip.^[5]

Timeline

• 1440 – the edge of a garment.^[1]
• 1495 – a cutting from a plant.^[8]
• 1555 – a narrow strip.^[1]
• 1680s – a slip of paper.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small piece of paper, especially one for writing on or used as a form.
2. A long narrow piece or strip.
3. A cutting from a plant for grafting or planting.
4. A slender young person: a slip of a girl.

slip³ potter's clay

Etymology

The clay is Middle English slyp, mud, slime,^[1] inherited from Old English slyppe (“slime, slippery substance”),^[1][2] related to slūpan (“to slip”) (see sleeve).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A soft semi-liquid mass: about 1000 in the OED, a sense now obsolete.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Mud or slime is from 1440, and potter's clay thinned to a creamy liquid, used for decorating or casting, is first recorded in 1640 with the spelling slip.^[1][8] Curdled milk (about 1425) survives in American use.^[8][2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – a soft mass.^[8]
• 1440 – mud.^[1]
• 1640 – potter's clay.^[1][8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Clay thinned with water to a creamy liquid, used for decorating or casting pottery.

Related words

• slime
• sleeve
• sliver
• slop

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press