Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗Alternative form of sleek (“with ease and dexterity”).
Slippery or smooth due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances. · Sleek; smooth. · Appearing expensive or sophisticated. · Superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy.
To make slick.
A covering of liquid, particularly oil. · A rapidly-expanding ring of dark water, resembling an oil slick, around the site of a large underwater explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress through the water of the shock wave generated by the explosion. · Someone who is clever and untrustworthy. · A tool used to make something smooth or even.
From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionslickeenm
- Inherited-form mentionslīcang · sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick
- Inherited-form mention*slīkazgem-pro · sleek, smooth
- Derivation mention*sleyg-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionsluiknl
- Cognate mentionsleeknl · even, smooth
- Cognate mentionslíkrnon · sleek, smooth
- Cognate mentionslicianang · to make sleek, smooth, or glossy
This page abbreviates 9 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "slicke"
},
"expansion": "Middle English slicke"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "slīc",
"t": "sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick"
},
"expansion": "Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*slīkaz",
"t": "sleek, smooth"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*sleyg-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "sluik"
},
"expansion": "Dutch sluik"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "sleek",
"t": "even, smooth"
},
"expansion": "Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "non",
"2": "slíkr",
"t": "sleek, smooth"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "slician",
"t": "to make sleek, smooth, or glossy"
},
"expansion": "Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"slicke",
"slicke#Middle_English"
],
[
"slike",
"slike#Middle_English"
],
[
"slyke",
"slyke#Middle_English"
],
[
"slīc",
"slic#Old_English"
],
[
"*slīkaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/slīkaz"
],
[
"*sleyg-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sleyg-"
],
[
"*sleyǵ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sleyǵ-"
],
[
"sluik",
"sluik#Dutch"
],
[
"sleek",
"sleek#Dutch"
],
[
"slíkr",
"slíkr#Old_Norse"
],
[
"slician",
"slician#Old_English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adv",
"glosses": [
"Alternative form of sleek (“with ease and dexterity”)."
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative",
"colloquial",
"not-comparable"
],
"recordId": "88c1f91a858d6d8ae9e03561788bd8850129ae1d6feae11c531aa999f5968e4a",
"rawRecordSha256": "fb2334dcf3388cc674d294d64c6b8a7941a61f34ea4b4664d1ed8ddeebbf295a",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 313392
},
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Slippery or smooth due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances.",
"Sleek; smooth.",
"Appearing expensive or sophisticated.",
"Superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "aed70109af3f709bc31ad834434539a5a7845a50068735aba663e6ebb4cea958",
"rawRecordSha256": "0bf55c9ce98435aec812f31b2ac8c3a073a076d79cc34cfebf3f7962d83724a8",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 313389
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To make slick."
],
"tags": [],
"recordId": "f416c8ffb648470dc7b052878660354696307425c12dd04607ed77ba6cb1ef2a",
"rawRecordSha256": "1ff61873ed82c2ed761369ef3cad5ecc6848b5cbe8d503e9ebc1f1880dee50e9",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 313391
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A covering of liquid, particularly oil.",
"A rapidly-expanding ring of dark water, resembling an oil slick, around the site of a large underwater explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress through the water of the shock wave generated by the explosion.",
"Someone who is clever and untrustworthy.",
"A tool used to make something smooth or even."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"broadly",
"dated"
],
"recordId": "fb06ac43b8a29c69912a708a9b27d0d6bddcebe085b7f8e9681a27b7f34638c8",
"rawRecordSha256": "1027cb9c7ebf83ce609b01ae266a8a37194e882e5784014189a98407ac5a6667",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 313390
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 9,
"glosses": 0
}
}