slender

slender · adjective, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₃sleydʰ-“to slip”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*slindraz“sliding, slippery”
3. Middle Dutch · derived fromslinder“thin, lank”
4. Old French · derived fromesclendre“thin, slender”
5. Middle English · inherited fromslendre
6. English todayslender

From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Middle Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic *slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”). Cognate with Bavarian Schlenderling (“that which dangles”), German schlendern (“to saunter, stroll”), Dutch slidderen, slinderen (“to wriggle, creep like a serpent”), Low German slindern (“to slide on ice”). More at slide, slither.

Slender · noun²

From the character of Abraham Slender in Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Words from the same roots