Etymology

slayer

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Today it means: A killer; a murderer; someone who slays. Full definition →

Middle English slear ← Old English slaga
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The story

  1. Old English · derived fromslaga“slayer”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromslear
  3. English todayslayer

From Middle English slear, sleere, sleare, slaare, dissimilated from Old English slaga (“slayer”), equivalent to slay + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.