slumber

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)lew-“loose, limp, flabby”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*slūm-“slack, loose, limp, flabby”
3. Old English · derived fromslūma
4. Middle English · derived fromslume“slumber”
5. Middle English · derived fromslummen
6. Middle English · inherited fromslombren
7. English todayslumber

From Middle English slombren, slomren, frequentative of Middle English slummen, slumen (“to doze”), probably from Middle English slume (“slumber”), from Old English slūma, from Proto-Germanic *slūm- (“slack, loose, limp, flabby”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“loose, limp, flabby”). Cognate with West Frisian slommerje, slûmerje (“to slumber”), Dutch sluimeren (“to slumber”), German schlummern (“to slumber, doze”), Swedish slummer (“to slumber”). By surface analysis, sloom + -er.

Words from the same roots