slow English · revision 2766

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 899|origins=gem-pro *slēwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sləʊ/, US /sloʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|slou]], slowe,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|slāw|t=sluggish, inactive; dull, not quick-witted]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*slēwaz|alt=*slæwaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) of unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Old Saxon slēu “blunt, dull”, Dutch slee, Old High German slēo and Old Norse sljór, slǽr “blunt, weak”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Merriam-Webster compares Sanskrit srēvayati “causes to fail”.^(MWU 2024) The modern verb is a re-formation from the adjective, not a continuation of Old English slāwian.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Inactive by nature, sluggish, lazy; not quick in understanding: before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Taking a long time to happen” is from about 1200,^(Etymonline) and “not quick to move, taking a long time to go a short distance” by the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) Of clocks, “behind the correct time”, it is from the 1690s,^(Etymonline) and “dull, tedious” from 1841.^(Etymonline) The adverb is from about 1500.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, “to be slow”, is from about 1175;^(Barnhart 1988) “to make slower” is from 1557, and “to go slower” from 1594.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun ''the slows'', an imaginary disease accounting for lethargy, is from 1843,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''slowpoke'' is American English from 1848,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''slow motion'' in film is by 1922.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – sluggish; dull.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1175 – verb, to be slow.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – taking a long time.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – not quick to move.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1557 – verb, to make slower.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1690s – of clocks.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1841 – dull, tedious.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – ''slowpoke''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1922 – ''slow motion''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not moving or acting quickly; taking a long time.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of a clock, showing a time earlier than the correct one.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Not quick to understand; [[dull]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Not busy or lively: ''business is slow''; tedious.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Reluctant: ''slow to anger''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # At a low speed; slowly: ''go slow''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become slower; to [[slacken]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[slowly]]

+ * [[slowness]]

+ * [[slowish]]

+ * [[sloth]]

+ * [[ultraslow]]

+ * [[go-slow]]

+ * [[overslow]]

+ * [[slo-mo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[slowpoke]]

+ * [[slow motion]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}