slick

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sleyg-
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*slīkaz“sleek, smooth”
3. Old English · inherited fromslīc“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”
4. Middle English · inherited fromslicke
5. English todayslick

From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).

Words from the same roots