slot English · revision 8011

+ Slot, a narrow opening, comes from Old French esclot, while the old word slot, a bar or bolt, is from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /slɒt/ ''(UK)''; /slɑt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|opening}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro esclot}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, [[bor|fro|esclot|t=hoofprint of a deer or horse]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old Norse slóð, a track (see [[sleuth]]).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The hollow at the base of the throat above the breastbone: about 1300 in the OED;^(OED 1989) probably about 1390, in ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The anatomical sense, found in romances of wounds and blows, is now rare or dialectal, and its development is obscure; the ''Middle English Dictionary'' suggests a resemblance of the notch of the breastbone to a hoofprint.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The verb, to stab in the base of the throat, is from about 1400 and obsolete.^(Etymonline) A narrow opening into which something can be fitted is from 1523.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The opening of a slot machine for a coin is from 1887–88, and the ''slot machine'' from 1888.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to cut slots in, is from 1747.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) A position in a list or a place in a timetable is first recorded in American English in 1942,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) to fit into a slot figuratively from 1940, and to assign a slot from 1966.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – the hollow of the throat.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1523 – a narrow opening.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1747 – the verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1888 – slot machine.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1942 – a place in a schedule.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A narrow opening or [[groove]], such as one for inserting a coin.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An assigned place in a sequence or schedule, or a position in an organization.^(AHD)

+ # A gap in an aircraft wing that improves the flow of air.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut a slot in.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To put into or assign to a slot.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[slotted]]

+ * [[slot machine]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|bar, bolt}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=dum slot}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, [[bor|dum|slot|t=bolt, lock]] or Middle Low German slot,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *slutila-, source also of German [[m|de|Schloss|t=bolt, lock, castle]] and Dutch slot,^(Etymonline) from *slut-, to close (compare German schliessen), perhaps from PIE [[ine-pro|*klewh₂-|alt=*klau-|t=hook, peg]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bar or bolt for securing a door or window: before 1300 in the OED, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A metal rod or wooden crossbar is from 1399, and one of the cross-bars of a harrow from 1799.^(OED 1989) A bolt in the mechanism of a lock is from 1890.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a bolt.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1399 – a bar.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1890 – part of a lock.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(dialect)'' A bar or [[bolt]] used to fasten a door or window.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sleuth]]

+ * [[slut]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A slot is also the track of an animal, especially a deer, from the same Old French esclot,^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986) and in Suffolk dialect the print of a hare's foot.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}