slate English · revision 39376

+ Merriam-Webster and the OED give ''slate'', the rock, and ''slate'', to criticize harshly, numbered entries of their own, and the sources disagree on whether the verb comes from the rock.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /sleɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|rock; tablet; list}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1340, Richard Rolle's Psalter|origins=fro esclat}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The rock is [[inh|enm|sclate]] (also [[m|enm|slate]]),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) [[bor|fro|esclate]], the feminine of [[m|fro|esclat|t=split piece, splinter]],^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 2026) whose masculine form gave [[slat]].^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021) It was so called because the rock splits easily into thin plates.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) Klein derives the masculine noun from [[m|fro|esclater|t=to break, burst]], from [[frk|*slaitan|t=to rend, tear]], related to [[slit]].^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Roofing slates, or the stone they are made of: before 1340, in Richard Rolle's Psalter;^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the form ''sclate'' to about 1340, and Etymonline notes it in Anglo-Latin about 1300.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A tablet of slate for writing on is recorded in a supplement to Chaucer's ''Treatise on the Astrolabe'' (probably 1397).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) The rock as a type of stone appears in 1653, and the bluish-grey colour in 1813, in a letter of Jane Austen.^(OED 2026) In North America a list of candidates for election was called a ''slate'' from 1842,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) after the idea of writing names on a slate board,^(Etymonline) and the verb followed: to nominate a candidate from 1804 and to schedule or plan from 1883.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) The writing slate also gave the figurative ''clean slate'' (1868) and ''on the slate'', on credit (1909).^(OED 2026) In film, a ''slate'' is the board held up before a take to identify it (1924).^(OED 2026) The verb "to roof with slates" is from 1530 in the OED and the 1520s in Etymonline, with an earlier form ''sclatten'' in the late 15th century.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) After about 1630 the forms with ''scl-'' survived only in northern English and Scots,^(OED 2026) where the EDD still records ''sclate'' and ''sklate''.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1340 – roofing slate.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1397 – a writing tablet.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530 – verb: to roof with slates.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1653 – the rock.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1804 – verb: to nominate a candidate (US).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1813 – the colour.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1842 – a list of candidates (US).^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1868 – figurative ''clean slate''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1883 – verb: to schedule.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1924 – the film clapperboard.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fine-grained [[metamorphic]] [[rock]] that splits into thin, flat layers.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A roofing [[tile]] made of this rock.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(formerly)'' A writing [[tablet]] of slate.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A dark bluish-grey colour.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(chiefly North America)'' A list of [[candidate|alt=candidates]] put forward for election.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(film)'' A [[clapperboard]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of slate, or of its colour.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover a roof with slates.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To plan or schedule: ''The bridge is slated to reopen in June.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(US)'' To put forward as a candidate.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[slater]]

+ * [[slaty]]

+ * [[slating]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|criticize harshly}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=1825}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb meaning to beat or to criticize harshly is, according to the OED and Hoad, apparently formed from the rock noun above; the OED adds that the sense of beating seems to have arisen in Ireland.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) Merriam-Webster takes it instead as probably an alteration of [[slat]],^(MWU 2024) and Klein from the Middle English verb [[m|enm|slaiten|t=to set a dog on]], from [[ang|slǣtan|t=to bait]].^(Klein 1966) Weekley, who also says it began in Ireland, mentions an 1865 explanation as knocking a man's hat over his eyes, but thinks it more likely to come from throwing slates, just as one might stone someone.^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To beat or thrash severely: 1825.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning moved from beating to rebuking: to scold severely is recorded from 1840, and to criticize a book or an author harshly from 1848.^(OED 2026) In military use it meant to punish an enemy heavily (1854).^(OED 2026) A noun ''slate'', a severe criticism, follows in 1887, in Andrew Lang,^(OED 2026) and Green's Dictionary of Slang has it for a quarrel or reprimand in 1891.^(GDoS) Merriam-Webster labels the criticizing sense chiefly British.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1825 – to beat or thrash severely.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1840 – to scold severely.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1848 – to criticize a book or author.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1887 – noun: a harsh criticism.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' To [[criticize]] harshly, especially in a [[review]]: ''Critics slated the sequel.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To beat or [[thrash]] severely.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A harsh criticism.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[slat]]

+ * [[slit]]

+ * [[slice]]

+ * [[éclat]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Scots and northern English also had a verb ''slate'', to set a dog on someone, which the OED and SOED derive from Old Norse;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) the EDD records it from Scotland to Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire, also in the sense of driving someone away with abuse.^(Wright 1898) Scots ''slate'' "a dirty, slovenly person" (1718) is of unknown origin,^(OED 2026)^(Wright 1898) and in 16th-century thieves' cant a ''slate'' was a bedsheet.^(GDoS)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}