Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/331

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Schlacht, f., ‘battle, engagement,’ from MidHG. slahte, slaht, f., ‘killing, slaughter, battle,’ OHG. slahta, f., OSax. man-slahta, f., ‘death-blow, killing’; an abstract formed by the sem. suffix -tâ- (as in Schande), from the Teut. root slah, ‘to slay.’ For Schlacht in the sense of ‘sort’ see Geschlecht. Schlacht, ‘dyke, embankment,’ is also a derivative of schlagen, ‘to make firm by beating,’ which sense MidHG. slahen may have even in the classical poets. —

schlachten, vb., ‘to slaughter, slay,’ MidHG. slahten, OHG. slahtôn, ‘to kill, slaughter,’ is a derivative of Schlacht (OHG. slahta), with the preservation of its more general meaning; so too Schlächter, m., ‘butcher,’ MidHG. slahtœre, OHG. slahtâri, ‘butcher’; allied to E. slaughter.

Schlacke, f., ‘slag, dross,’ ModHG. only, from LG. slacke, ‘scales that fly off when metal is struck’ (E. slag); allied to schlagen.

Schlaf (1.), m., Schläfe, f., ‘temple,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. slâf, m.; Schläfe is prop. the plur. of Schlaf, referring to both the temples (comp. Lat. tempora); Du. slaap, ‘temple.’ In AS. þunwęnge, allied to OHG. tinna, MidHG. tinne and OHG. thinna-bahho, m., ‘temple,’ MidHG. tünewęnge, ‘temple’ (comp. dünn), OHG. dunwęngi, OIc. þunnvange, ‘temple.’ Beneath these similarly sounding terms lies the older Teut. term for ‘temple.’

Schlaf (2.), m., ‘sleep, slumber,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. slâf, m.; a verbal abstr. from schlafen, MidHG. slâfen, OHG. slâfan, str. vb., ‘to sleep.’ This form is peculiar to Teut. in this sense, and is wanting only in OIc., which has preserved sofa (Teut. root swef, Aryan swep), primit. allied to Lat. somnus, Gr. ὕπνος; Goth. slêps, ‘sleep,’ slêpan, ‘to sleep,’ AS. slœ́p, E. sleep, AS. slœ̂pan, E. to sleep, Du. slaap, slapen, OSax. slâp, slâpan. Comp. also the derivatives with r, OHG. slâfarag, MidHG. slâfrec, slœfric, ‘sleepy,’ OHG. slâfarôn (and slâfôn), MidHG. slâfern, ‘to be asleep, get sleepy.’ With the Teut. root slêp, ‘to sleep,’ appearing in these cognates, are also connected ModHG. schlaff and its Teut. correspondences; hence the prim. meaning of schlafen is probably ‘to be relaxed.’ For further references see under schlaff.

schlaff, adj., ‘relaxed, loose, indolent,’ from MidHG. and OHG. slaf (gen. slaffes), ‘relaxed, idle, impotent’; comp. LG. and Du. slap, ‘relaxed, impotent,’ whence ModHG. schlapp, retaining the LG. p, is bor-

rowed. Goth. *slapa- is perhaps a graded form of the root slép, as lata-, ‘idle, lazy,’ is of the root lêt, ‘to omit’ (see laß). OSlov. slabŭ, ‘relaxed, weak,’ and Lat. lâbi, ‘to glide,’ lăbare, ‘to totter,’ have been rightly compared with the prim. Teut. slapa-, ‘relaxed.’ See schlafen.

Schlag (1.), m., ‘sort, race, family, class’; see Geschlecht.

Schlag (2.), m., ‘stroke, blow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. slac (gen. slages), OHG. slag, m.; a verbal abstr. of the root slah, ‘to strike.’ ModHG. schlagen, ‘to strike, beat, pulsate,’ MidHG. slahen, OHG. slahan, ‘to strike’; the g of the ModHG. vb. is due to the grammatical change of h to g. Comp. Goth. slahan, OIc. slá (also ‘to mow down’), AS. sleán (from sleahan), E. to slay, Du. slaan, OSax. slahan, ‘to strike.’ Teut. root slah (slag), from pre-Teut. slā̆k; akin to Gr. λακίζω, Lat. lacerare, ‘to tear to pieces or rags,’ for slak-?. A root similar in sound appears in OIr. slechtaim, sligim, ‘I strike’ (root sleg). See Geschlecht and schlau.

Schlamm, m., ‘slime, mud,’ from the equiv. MidHG. slam (gen. slammes), m.

Schlamp, m., ‘carouse’; see schlemmen.

Schlange, f., ‘serpent,’ from the equiv. MidHG. slange, m. and f., OHG. slango, m.; comp. OIc. slange, m., ‘serpent,’ Du. slang; a graded form of schlingen, hence Schlinge is lit. ‘that which coils.’ —

schlängeln, vb., ‘to wind, twist,’ ModHG. only, seems a diminut. derivative of Schlange.

schlank, adj., ‘slender, slim,’ from MidLG. (MidG.) slanc, ‘slim, lean’; comp. Du. slank, ‘thin, nimble’; to this OIc. slakke (for slanke), ‘mountain slope,’ is also probably allied. Goth. *slanka- would be connected with the root sling in schlingen, like krank with the root kring in AS. cringan; see schlingen.

Schlappe (1.), f., ‘slipper,’ ModHG. only, from LG. slappe, winch is derived from LG. slapp, ‘loose.’

Schlappe (2.), f., ‘slap; discomfiture, defeat,’ ModHG. only, from LG. slappe; comp. MidE. slappe, E. slap; hence also in earlier ModHG. ‘slap in the face.’ From a HG. *slapfe is derived Ital. schiaffo, ‘slap in the face.’

schlappen, vb., ‘to slap, hang down, go slipshod,’ ModHG. only, from LG. and Du. slabben; see schlabbern.

Schlaraffe, m., ‘sluggard, lubber,’ for earlier ModHG.. Schlauraffe, which is met with as late as the first half of the last