slut English · revision 39754

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1402, T. Hoccleve, Lepistre Cupide}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /slʌt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[m|enm|slutte]], of unknown origin.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010)^(Collins 2023) Words of similar form and sense exist in several Germanic languages, but their relationship to one another and to this word is unclear:^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) [[nl|slodde|t=slovenly woman]] (1574), Swabian [[m|de|Schlutt]], [[m|de|Schlutte]] (1590), [[da|slatte|t=untidy woman]], and perhaps [[no|slott]] and dialectal [[sv|slåta|t=an idler]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) Skeat compared [[is|slóttur|t=a heavy, lumpish fellow]] and linked the word with [[slattern]],^(Skeat 1911) as does Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024) A connection has also been proposed with an element meaning mud or slush, as in [[ang|*sliet]] or [[m|ang|*slyt]] and dialectal [[no|slutr|t=sleet]];^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016) Suffolk dialect had ''slut'' for mud.^(Wright 1898) Weekley thought the word unconnected with [[sloven]].^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An untidy, dirty or slovenly woman: 1402, in Hoccleve's ''Lepistre Cupide'',^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) about 1400 in Etymonline, which cites the Coventry plays, where it is paired with ''sloven''.^(Etymonline) Chaucer already used ''sluttish'' in the late 14th century, of the appearance of an untidy man.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense "a sexually promiscuous woman", now the main one, is recorded from ?c1425, again in Hoccleve,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) but Etymonline notes that through the 18th century the chief sense was a woman careless of her person or house.^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) defined it as "a dirty woman", and secondly as a word of slight contempt for a woman.^(Johnson 1755)^(Etymonline) A neutral or playful sense, a girl or wench, is recorded from a1592,^(OED 2026) and Pepys used the word in 1664 for a kitchen maid or drudge.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016) Household phrases reflected the old sense: ''slut's wool'', the dust left under beds by careless cleaning,^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) and in dialect ''slut's farthings'' or ''slut's pennies'', hard lumps in badly kneaded bread.^(Wright 1898)^(Etymonline) From 1609 a ''slut'' was also a makeshift candle of rag dipped in fat,^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) and since 1811, chiefly in the United States and Australia, a female dog.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) From 1984 the word has been applied to anyone of either sex thought to demean themselves for a goal, as in ''publicity slut'',^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) and American campus slang uses it as an affectionate term of address among women.^(GDoS) The verb, to behave promiscuously, is recorded from 1946.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – ''sluttish'', in Chaucer.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1402 – an untidy, slovenly woman.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * ?c1425 – a promiscuous woman.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1592 – a girl, a wench, in neutral use.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1609 – a makeshift candle.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1664 – a kitchen maid, a drudge.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1811 – a female dog.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1946 – verb, to behave promiscuously.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1984 – a person who demeans themselves for a goal.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # (offensive) A woman regarded as sexually [[promiscuous]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (old-fashioned, derogatory) A dirty, untidy woman; a [[slattern]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (derogatory, with a modifier) A person thought willing to do anything for a particular end: ''a publicity slut''.^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+ # (archaic) A female dog.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sluttish]]

+ * [[sluttishly]]

+ * [[sluttishness]]

+ * [[slutty]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[slattern]]

+ * [[sloven]]

+ * [[sleet]]

+ * [[hussy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The word is offensive in its modern sexual sense.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) Dictionary.com notes that by the end of the 15th century the sense of a woman given to immoral conduct had arisen beside the older one of a slovenly woman or kitchen maid.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}