Etymology

slippery

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Today it means: Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc. Full definition →

Middle English slipperie ← Old English slipor ← Proto-Germanic *slipraz
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*slipraz“smooth, slippery”
  2. Old English · derived fromslipor“slippery”
  3. Middle English · derived fromslipper
  4. Middle English · inherited fromslipperie
  5. English todayslippery

From Middle English slipperie, an extended form ( + -y) of Middle English slipper, sliper (“slippery”), from Old English slipor (“slippery”), from Proto-Germanic *slipraz (“smooth, slippery”), equivalent to slip + -er. Compare also Middle English slibbri, slubbri (“slippery”) borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German slibberich (“slippery”). Cognate with German schlüpfrig (“slippery”), Danish slibrig (“slippery”), Swedish slipprig (“slippery”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.