Etymology

Always derived from ON, cp. OIcel slœgr ‘sly, cunning’, < *slōgi-, a verbal adj. formed on the pret. stem of the PGmc v. *slaxan- (str. VI) ‘to hit’ (on the evolution of the sense see Heid.) The v. is commonplace in Gmc (cp. OE slēan, Go slahan, OIcel slá, OFris slā, OS, OHG slahan), but until its appearance in ME the adjectival derivation is known only in Scandinavia.

PGmc Ancestor

*slōg-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

 slœgr ‘sly, cunning’
(ONP slǿgr (2) (adj.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Icel slægur, Norw sløg, ODan sløv, MSw slögher, Sw dial sløg

OE Cognate

cp. slēan (v.) 'to strike, beat, stamp, coin (money), forge (weapons)'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

C1

Attestation

Common and widespread throughout ME (inc. the AB Group and Orrm).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 797, 893

Gaw MS sleʒez at 893 is emended to sleʒe by all editions since M(G), and was already suggested by Madden in his ‘Corrections and Additions’ (see further Napier 1902: 86).

Bibliography

MED sleigh (adj.) , OED sly (adj., adv. and n.) , HTOED , Dance sleʒe, Bj. 219, de Vries slœgr (2), Mag. slægur (3), Heid. slōgi-, Seebold slah-a-