Where does “slicker” come from?
I need to work through this chain carefully, but I notice there's a significant problem: the chain provided doesn't actually connect to "slicker" (English) in any coherent way. The chain shows morphological elements (-er, -are, -arius, -us, -os) and mentions Chinese 兒 and English "slick," but these don't form a logical etymological path to "slicker."
Additionally, the chain appears to contain:
- Repetition (Latin -are appears twice)
- Unclear connections (how does Chinese 兒 fit?)
- Missing steps between modern English "slicker" and these ancient elements
Without a valid etymological chain that actually supports how "slicker" developed, I cannot write an accurate one-sentence origin summary following your rules. To do so would violate the instruction to "state only what the chain supports" and not "invent...intermediate steps."
Could you
slicker (English): comparative form of slick: more slick; One who or...
Definitions
- comparative form of slick: more slick; One who or...
Ancestry of “slicker”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 2 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 3 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 4 | Latin | -āre | — |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
Words derived from “slicker”