Etymograph

English

slow

Slow comes from Old English slāw ‘lazy’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slaiwaz1‘blunt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*slaiw1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150slāw1‘lazy’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slaw1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1594slow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English slow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto): “Let him have time to mark how slow time…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slaiwazWiktionary, English slow‘blunt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*slaiwWiktionary, English slowreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150slāwWiktionary, English slow‘lazy’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slawWiktionary, English slow
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1594slowWiktionary, English slow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto): “Let him have time to mark how slow time…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz

Today it means

adj Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “slow”. 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 *slaiwaz / slow

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