slade en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /sleɪd/ (UK)
Etymology
From Middle English slade (“low-lying ground, a valley; a flat grassy area, glade; hollows of clouds; a creek, stream; a channel”), from Old English slæd (“valley, glade”), from Proto-West Germanic *slad, from Proto-Germanic *sladą (“glen, valley”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *sladaną (“to glide, slip”) or Proto-Germanic *sladdaz (“to be slack, droop”). Compare Old Norse slóð (“track, trail”).
Meanings
-
(archaic, dialectal) A valley, a flat grassy area, a glade.
The thick and well-growne fogge doth matt my smoother slades, And on the lower Leas, as on the higher Hades The daintie Clover growes (of grasse the onely silke) That makes each Udder strout abundantly with milke.
1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 13 p. 222:Yet he slow in the slade of men of armys mo than syxty with his hondys.
1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- (dialectal) A hillside.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| slades | Number=Plur | lexicographic |