Etymograph

English

slice

Slice comes from Old French esclice, from Frankish *slitjan ‘to split up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- ‘to rend, injure, crumble’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sleyd-1‘to rend, injure, crumble’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slītaną1‘to split, tear apart’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slitjaną1reconstructedderived within Proto-Germanic
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*slitjan1‘to split up’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esclice1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sclise1‘slice, piece’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1881–1882slice1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English slice
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island: “I pulled in hand over hand on the cord,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sleyd-Wiktionary, English slice‘to rend, injure, crumble’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slītanąWiktionary, English slice‘to split, tear apart’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slitjanąWiktionary, English slicereconstructedderived within Proto-Germanic
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*slitjanWiktionary, English slice‘to split up’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escliceWiktionary, English slice
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scliseWiktionary, English slice‘slice, piece’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1881–1882sliceWiktionary, English slice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island: “I pulled in hand over hand on the cord,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *slītaną ‘to split, tear apart’

slit, slat, 3 more

Today it means

noun That which is thin and broad.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “slice”. 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-Indo-European *sleyd- / slice

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