adv.
WA sliʒly, sleely
'(made) warily; stealthily' (Modern English slyly, slily)
PGmc Ancestor
*slōg-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
slœgr ‘sly, cunning’; cp. slœgliga ‘slily, cunningly'
(ONP cp. slǿg-liga (adv.))
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
MED cites a handful of early attestations (inc. LB), but only frequent from 14c.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 1182; WA 2870, 2962, 5174
See Smith 2000 for remarks on the sense and the phonaesthetic context. The D MS of WA has slyghtly (sleghtly (adv.)) at 2870.