slew

slew · noun, verb¹

In all senses, a mostly British spelling of slue.

slew · noun²

Attested since at least 1708, a North American variant of slough.

slew · verb³

1. Old English · derived fromslēan“to hit, strike, slay”
2. Old English · inherited fromslōg
3. Middle English · derived fromsleen
4. Middle English · inherited fromslew
5. English todayslew

Ablaut of slay, from Middle English slew, sleugh, past of Middle English sleen. Replaced earlier Middle English slough, slogh, from Old English slōg (past of Old English slēan (“to hit, strike, slay”)), due to the influence of knew, drew, etc. More at slay.

slew · noun⁴

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*slowgʰos
2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*slougos“troop, army”
3. Old Irish · derived fromslóg
4. Middle Irish · derived fromslúag
5. Scottish Gaelic · borrowed fromsluagh“crowd”
6. Irish · borrowed fromslua“crowd”
7. English todayslew

Borrowed from Irish slua (“crowd”) and Scottish Gaelic sluagh (“crowd”), from Middle Irish slúag, from Old Irish slóg, from Proto-Celtic *slougos (“troop, army”), from Proto-Indo-European *slowgʰos, *slowgos (“entourage”).

Words from the same roots