Where does “slaken” come from?

slaken (Middle English) comes from Old English sleacian, from Old English slæc, from Proto-Germanic slakaz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)leh₁g- — weak, feeble; weak, faint.

slaken (Middle English): to render slack, to slake

Definitions

  1. to render slack, to slake

Ancestry of “slaken”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishsleacian—
2Old Englishslæclazy
3Proto-Germanicslakazslack, lax
4Proto-Indo-European(s)leh₁g-weak, feeble; weak, faint

Words derived from “slaken”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)leh₁g- →Every word from Proto-Germanic slakaz →Every word from Old English slæc →