Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive; bitumen; mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the preparatory dressing. · Any mucilaginous substance; or a mucus-like substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals, such as snails or slugs. · Synonym of flubber (“kind of rubbery polymer”). · A sneaky, unethical person; a slimeball.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sley- Proto-Germanic *slīmą Old English slīm English slime From Middle English slime, slyme, slim, slym, from Old English slīm, from Proto-West Germanic *slīm, from Proto-Germanic *slīmą, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Sliem, Dutch slijm, German Schleim (“mucus, slime”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk slim, Swedish slem, Faroese and Icelandic slím (“slime”), Latin limus (“mud”), Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, “marsh”). The slang sense of "to murder" spread among Black communites throughout the 2010s and gained prominence on TikTok around 2021.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionslimeenm
- Inherited-form mentionslīmang
- Inherited-form mention*slīmgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*slīmągem-pro
- Derivation mention*sley-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionSliemstq
- Cognate mentionslijmnl
- Cognate mentionSchleimde · mucus, slime
- Cognate mentionslemsv
- Cognate mentionlimusla · mud
- Cognate mentionλίμνηgrc · marsh
This page abbreviates 5 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.
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{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "ang:slīm<id:slime>",
"id": "Q3649349",
"tree": "1"
},
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"3": "slime"
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"expansion": "Middle English slime"
},
{
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"3": "slīm"
},
"expansion": "Old English slīm"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*slīm"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *slīm"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*slīmą"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *slīmą"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*sley-",
"4": "",
"5": "smooth; slick; sticky; slimy"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Sliem"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Sliem"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "slijm"
},
"expansion": "Dutch slijm"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Schleim",
"t": "mucus, slime"
},
"expansion": "German Schleim (“mucus, slime”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb,nn",
"2": "slim"
},
"expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk slim"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "slem"
},
"expansion": "Swedish slem"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo,is",
"2": "slím",
"t": "slime"
},
"expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic slím (“slime”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "limus",
"t": "mud"
},
"expansion": "Latin limus (“mud”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "λίμνη",
"t": "marsh"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, “marsh”)"
},
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"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *sley-\nProto-Germanic *slīmą\nOld English slīm\nEnglish slime"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*sley-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sley-#Proto-Indo-European:_?"
],
[
"*slīmą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/slīmą#Proto-Germanic:_slime"
],
[
"slīm",
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[
"slime",
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[
"slyme",
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[
"slim",
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],
[
"slym",
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],
[
"slīm",
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],
[
"*slīm",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/slīm"
],
[
"*slīmą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/slīmą"
],
[
"*sley-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sley-"
],
[
"Sliem",
"Sliem#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"slijm",
"slijm#Dutch"
],
[
"Schleim",
"Schleim#German"
],
[
"Danish",
"slim#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"slim#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"slim",
"slim#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"slem",
"slem#Swedish"
],
[
"Faroese",
"slím#Faroese"
],
[
"slím",
"slím#Icelandic"
],
[
"limus",
"limus#Latin"
],
[
"λίμνη",
"λίμνη#Ancient_Greek"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"word": "slime",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "スライム",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "suraimu"
},
{
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"word": "슬라임",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "seullaim"
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive; bitumen; mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the preparatory dressing.",
"Any mucilaginous substance; or a mucus-like substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals, such as snails or slugs.",
"Synonym of flubber (“kind of rubbery polymer”).",
"A sneaky, unethical person; a slimeball."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable",
"derogatory",
"informal"
],
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