Where does “slāpen” come from?
slāpen (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon slapan, from Proto-Germanic *slāpan, from Proto-Germanic slēpaną, from Proto-Indo-European slab- — to be weak, be languid; be weak, limp, languid.
Ancestry of “slāpen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Saxon | slapan | to sleep |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | *slāpan | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | slēpaną | to sleep |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | slab- | to be weak, be languid; be weak, limp, languid |
Words derived from “slāpen”