English
sluff
Sluff comes from Middle English slough ‘skin, husk, rind’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English sluff
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1995, Jan, Easy Doesn't Do It: “While I found wonderfully soft and untracked snow near…”.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sloughWiktionary, English sluff‘skin, husk, rind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1995sluffWiktionary, English sluff. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1995, Jan, Easy Doesn't Do It: “While I found wonderfully soft and untracked snow near…”
Linked words
through Middle English slough ‘skin, husk, rind’
Today it means
noun An avalanche, mudslide, or a like slumping of material or debris.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sluff”. 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 / Middle English slough / sluff