Etymology

slowworm

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Today it means: A small Old World lizard, Anguis fragilis, often mistaken for a snake, having no legs and small eyes. Full definition →

Middle English sloworm ← Old English slāwyrm
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromslāwyrm“slow-worm, blindworm”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromsloworm
  3. English todayslowworm

From Middle English sloworm (possibly influenced by slow), from Old English slāwyrm (“slow-worm, blindworm”), from *slā, related to Norwegian slo (“slow-worm”), Swedish slå (“slow-worm”) + wyrm (“worm, snake”). Compare Swedish ormslå.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.