Where does “slack” come from?
Slack comes from Old English slæc, from Proto-Germanic slakaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -eh₂, a suffix indicating state or condition.
slack (English): The part of anything that hangs loose, having no...
Definitions
- The part of anything that hangs loose, having no...
Ancestry of “slack”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | slak | — |
| 2 | Old English | slæc | lazy |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | slakaz | slack, lax |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)leh₁g- | weak, feeble; weak, faint |
Words derived from “slack”