Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To lose weight in order to achieve slimness. · To make slimmer; to reduce in size.
A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes. · A potato farl. · AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages. · Cocaine.
Slender in an attractive way. · Designed to make the wearer appear slim. · Long and narrow. · Of a reduced size, with the intent of being more efficient.
Borrowing from Low German or Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-West Germanic *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). The sense development would have been "slanting, cunning" (Dutch) > "insignificant, slight" and then "thin, graceful" in English, a shift that Liberman calls an "incredible amelioration" of word meaning. The pejorative sense found in Low German and Dutch is also found preserved in the archaic English noun slim (“worthless or lazy person”), also comparable to the South African use of the adjective as "crafty, sly." Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”), Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 3 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": "bor",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "nds",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Low German"
},
{
"name": "bor",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "nl",
"3": "slim",
"4": "",
"5": "bad, sly, clever"
},
"expansion": "Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "dum",
"3": "slim",
"4": "",
"5": "bad, crooked"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "odt",
"3": "*slimb"
},
"expansion": "Old Dutch *slimb"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*slimb"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *slimb"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*slimbaz",
"4": "",
"5": "oblique, crooked"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "slim",
"3": "",
"4": "smart, clever, crafty"
},
"expansion": "Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "slimp",
"3": "",
"4": "slanting, awry"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "schlimm",
"3": "",
"4": "bad"
},
"expansion": "German schlimm (“bad”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "slim",
"3": "",
"4": "bad, dire"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"slim",
"slim#Dutch"
],
[
"slim",
"slim#Middle_Dutch"
],
[
"*slimb",
"Reconstruction:Old Dutch/slimb"
],
[
"*slimb",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/slimb"
],
[
"*slimbaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/slimbaz"
],
[
"slim",
"slim#English"
],
[
"slim",
"slim#Dutch"
],
[
"slimp",
"slimp#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"schlimm",
"schlimm#German"
],
[
"slim",
"slim#West_Frisian"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To lose weight in order to achieve slimness.",
"To make slimmer; to reduce in size."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive",
"transitive"
],
"recordId": "46a7facdf5a86524838d8c52f20386920cbed8c5bc086ae798c97d813f3a8d5d",
"rawRecordSha256": "139f52edd4706fefcc57d2da3c9f8846e549b553c3d6571bf9a9de69b34f9bda",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 25223
},
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes.",
"A potato farl.",
"AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages.",
"Cocaine."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable",
"Ireland",
"regional",
"Africa",
"East",
"slang"
],
"recordId": "ba80cfd9e74730fee4d651d63fa8b1d1bb6ee65bdacd2bdc2c282c1b858cad27",
"rawRecordSha256": "71a9b81266d160635d3c7c55f51f4528a4a33073eb658bc8ce836fa0c760db19",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 25222
},
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Slender in an attractive way.",
"Designed to make the wearer appear slim.",
"Long and narrow.",
"Of a reduced size, with the intent of being more efficient."
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
],
"recordId": "e0371e7b4c3c80883d5ed048de433d2b85d6e5f7e94ca308af5ce6453fcd2ef1",
"rawRecordSha256": "e727dfebaf20a4587d987773f4267799299e09d4c4328a390279e97be27b51b6",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 25221
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 3,
"glosses": 0
}
}