slink

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sel-“to sneak; crawl”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sleng-
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*slinkaną“to creep; crawl”
4. Old English · inherited fromslincan“to creep; crawl”
5. Middle English · inherited fromslynken
6. English todayslink

From Middle English slynken, sclynken, from Old English slincan (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleng-, *slenk- (“to turn; wind; twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to sneak; crawl”). Cognate with West Frisian slinke, Dutch slinken (“to shrink; shrivel”), Low German slinken, Swedish slinka (“to glide”). Compare also German schleichen (“to slink”). More at sleek.

Words from the same roots