Etymograph

English

slite

Slite comes from Old English slītan ‘to slit, tear, rend, shiver, split, rend to…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skleyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skleyd-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slītaną1‘to tear’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*slītan1‘to tear apart’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150slītan1‘to slit, tear, rend, shiver, split, rend to pieces, cleave, divide’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sliten1
  6. Englishtodayslite1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English slite

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skleyd-Wiktionary, English slitereconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slītanąWiktionary, English slite‘to tear’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*slītanWiktionary, English slite‘to tear apart’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150slītanWiktionary, English slite‘to slit, tear, rend, shiver, split, rend to pieces, cleave, divide’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slitenWiktionary, English slite
  6. EnglishtodaysliteWiktionary, English slite

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *slītaną ‘to tear’

slice, slat, 3 more

Today it means

verb To slit; tear or rip up.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “slite”. 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 *skleyd- / slite

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