slee

slee¹ sled, sleigh

Pronunciation

• /sleː/^[1]

Forms

slee f (plural sleeën, diminutive sleetje n)^[1] The full form slede is still used beside slee.^[1][2]

Etymology

The word for the sled is a contraction of slede, which lost its /d/ between vowels; it is inherited from Middle Dutch slēde, inherited from Old Dutch *slido, inherited from Proto-Germanic *slidan-.^[3][1][4] Middle Dutch also had the variants sledde and sleedse.^[3][5]

The same word is Old Saxon slido, Old High German slito (modern German Schlitten), West Frisian slide and Old Norse sleði.^[3][5] It is an ablaut noun to the strong verb *slīdan- “to glide”, which gave Middle High German slīten and Old English slīdan (modern English slide).^[3][4][6] The root is Proto-Indo-European *sleidʰ- (“to slip”), with Lithuanian slidùs (“slippery”) and slýsti (“to slip”); Ancient Greek ὀλισθάνω (olisthánō, “to slip”) is almost certainly related too, which would point to an older *h₃sleidʰ-.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Van der Sijs dates the first record of the word to 1266.^[7][8] The EWN's earliest quotation is from a Holland text of 1343–1344, which pays for red cloth to cover “my lord's sled” and the lord himself on his journeys.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

In the early modern period the sled carried goods, timber and peat as well as people on ice and snow; at Amsterdam a closed sled without wheels was a hired carriage for passengers, and in 1685 one could hire a sleetje to ride to one's wedding.^[2][9] The word was also used for gliding frames: a slipway sledge on which ships were hauled ashore (1671), the carriage of a sawmill (1658) and a harrow dragged over the field.^[2] The short form slee is recorded from 1670.^[3]

English borrowed the word three times: sled from Middle Dutch sledde, sledge from sleedse (1617) and sleigh from slee, in American and Canadian English from 1703.^[3][5][10] In recent informal Dutch slee is also a big, luxurious car.^[11][8]

Timeline

• 1266 – The word is first recorded, according to Van der Sijs.^[7]
• 1343–1344 – A Holland text mentions “my lord's” slede.^[3][9]
• 1543 – A text forbids sled drivers to ride on the timberwork of the piers.^[2]
• 1562 – A word list gives slé and sléde beside sledde.^[3]
• 1670 – The contracted slee appears.^[3]
• 1703 – English sleigh is first recorded.^[10][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sled, sleigh: a vehicle on two parallel runners, drawn or pushed over snow or ice.^[11][1]
2. A sliding carriage or base of a machine.^[11][8]
3. (informal) A large, luxurious car.^[11][1]

Word family

• arrenslee
• bobslee
• hondenslee
• sledehond
• sleeën

slee² sloe, blackthorn

Etymology tree of slee²

inherited borrowed derived

Proto-West Germanic *slaihā

Dutch slee

Pronunciation

• /sleː/^[1]

Forms

slee m (plural sleeën, diminutive sleetje n)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the sloe is inherited from Middle Dutch slee, plural sleen, inherited from Old Dutch slē, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *slaihā, inherited from Proto-Germanic *slaihōn.^[5][1][12] A variant *slaihwōn is seen in Old High German slēwa and in sleeuwe, recorded by Kiliaan.^[5][13][6]

The same word is Middle Low German slē, Old High German slēha (modern German Schlehe), Old English slā (modern English sloe), older Danish slaa and Swedish slån.^[5][6][2] Outside Germanic the sources compare Lithuanian slyvà (“plum”) and the Slavic word for “plum”, from which the Baltic forms are usually thought to be borrowed.^[6][14][2] De Vries derives it with a suffix from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lī- (“bluish”), comparing Old Irish lí (“colour, sheen”), Welsh lliw (“colour”) and Latin līvor (“bluish colour”); the fruit would then be named for its colour.^[5][13][6] The MNW instead took it for a derivative of the adjective ⟨slee⟩ “blunt”, the sour fruit that sets the teeth on edge.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old Dutch the word is found only in place names, as Sle and Slene (Sleen, near Coevorden in Drenthe), recorded in 1101.^[12] As a common noun it first appears in a West Flemish glossary of 1226, where Latin acrile is glossed sle beside sledorn “blackthorn”.^[15]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the word meant the small sour wild plum and its tree, and a Flemish text of 1351 recommends betony drunk with sloe juice.^[9] Since the fruit was worthless, niet een slee meant “nothing at all” (c. 1301), and ene slee “a trifle” (1340); the phrase is still found in 1511.^[9][2] A 1621 rhyme names cornels and sloes as common on the dikes.^[2]

Timeline

• 1101 – The place name Sle, Slene is recorded.^[12]
• 1226 – Sle glosses Latin acrile in a West Flemish glossary.^[15]
• c. 1301 – Niet ene slie “not a sloe”, i.e. nothing, is recorded.^[9]
• 1351 – A Flemish text mentions sloe juice in a remedy.^[9]
• 1511 – Jc en achs niet een slee “I don't care a sloe for it”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The blackthorn (Prunus spinosa).^[1][2]
2. A sloe, the fruit of the blackthorn.^[1][2]

Word family

• sleedoorn
• sleepruim