English
sleightly
Sleightly comes from Middle English sleightely ‘Slyly, cleverly’, from sleighte ‘Wit, shrewdness, judiciousness’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *slōgiþō.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slōgiþō1reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350slœgð1‘trick, sleight, slyness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleighte2‘Wit, shrewdness, judiciousness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleightely3‘Slyly, cleverly’
- Englishearliest quotation 1658sleightly3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English sleighte
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English sleightely
- 3 Wiktionary, English sleightly
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, Samuel Crooke: “He healeth others sleightly, because he is sick of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slōgiþōWiktionary, Middle English sleightereconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350slœgðWiktionary, Middle English sleighte‘trick, sleight, slyness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleighteWiktionary, Middle English sleightely‘Wit, shrewdness, judiciousness’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleightelyWiktionary, English sleightly‘Slyly, cleverly’
- Englishearliest quotation 1658sleightlyWiktionary, English sleightly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, Samuel Crooke: “He healeth others sleightly, because he is sick of…”
Formed from sleight + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *slak- ‘to hit, strike, throw’
…
Proto-Germanic *slōgiz ‘cunning’
Proto-Germanic *slōgiþō
Old Norse slœgð ‘cunning’
Middle English sleighte ‘Wit, shrewdness, judiciousness’
English sleight
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *slōgiþō
Today it means
adv With cunning; dexterously.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sleightly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English sleighte, Middle English sleightely. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *slōgiþō / sleightly