Etymology

sling

S1L1I1N1G2

Today it means: To throw with a circular or arcing motion. Full definition →

Middle English slynge ← Old Norse slyngja ← Proto-Germanic *slingwaną
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sling · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*slenk-“to turn, twist”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*slingwaną“to worm, twist”
  3. Old Norse · derived fromslyngja
  4. Middle English · inherited fromslynge
  5. English todaysling

From Middle English slynge (noun), slyngen (verb), probably from Old Norse slyngja, slyngva (“to hurl”), from Proto-Germanic *slingwaną (“to worm, twist”) or compare Old English slingan (“to wind, twist”), from the same source. Compare German schlingen (“to swing, wind, twist”), Danish and Norwegian slynge), from Proto-Indo-European *slenk- (“to turn, twist”) (compare Welsh llyngyr (“worms, maggots”), Lithuanian sliñkti (“to crawl like a snake”), Latvian slìkt (“to sink”)).

sling · noun2

  1. Englishspider
  2. Englishspiderling
  3. English todaysling

From a shortening of spiderling.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.