slope

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /sləʊp/, US /sloʊp/^[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening of aslope, on the incline,^[2][3][4] probably from an Old English past participle *āslopen, from āslūpan (“to slip away”),^[2][3] from ā- (“away”) and slūpan (“to slip”) (see sleeve).^[2][3] Hoad calls aslope of uncertain origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, slanting: 1502 in Barnhart, about 1500 in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to go in an oblique direction, is from 1591,^[2][3][5] and the noun, an inclination or slant, from 1611, in Cotgrave's dictionary.^[2][6][3] A stretch of rising or falling ground is from the 1620s,^[3][6] the sense in ski slope.^[3] The derogatory American slang use for an East Asian person, from the shape of the eyes, is attested from 1948.^[3]

Timeline

• 1502 – slope (adjective).^[2]
• 1591 – to slope (verb).^[2][5]
• 1611 – an inclination.^[2][6]
• 1626 – a slope of ground.^[6]
• 1889 – slope in mathematics.^[6]
• 1948 – the slur.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A surface or stretch of ground that rises or falls; an incline.
2. The degree of inclination from the horizontal.
3. In mathematics, the ratio of the vertical change to the horizontal change along a line.

Verb

1. To lie or move at a slant; to rise or fall at an angle.
2. Slope off: to leave furtively.

Word family

• sloper
• slopingly
• slopingness
• downslope
• upslope
• hillslope
• slippery slope
• bunny slope

Related words

• aslope
• slip
• sleeve

Usage notes

Slope in the sense of to make off or decamp is 19th-century slang, originally American, and perhaps a special use of the same verb.^[4] In Dorset, Somerset and Devon dialect another slope meant to rot with damp, of fruit or vegetables.^[7]

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 g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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)