Etymograph

English

sluggard

Sluggard comes from Middle English slogarde.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slogarde1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1589–1592sluggard1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sluggard
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1589–1592, Christopher Marlowe, London: […] Iohn Wright: “He tooke his rouſe with ſtopes of Rhenniſh wine…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slogardeWiktionary, English sluggard
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1589–1592sluggardWiktionary, English sluggard. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1589–1592, Christopher Marlowe, London: […] Iohn Wright: “He tooke his rouſe with ſtopes of Rhenniſh wine…”

Formed from ard ‘pejorative agent suffix’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃- ‘to plough’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂érh₃trom ‘plough’

Proto-Germanic *arþrą ‘plough’

Old Norse arðr ‘plough’

Norwegian ard ‘plough’

English ard

Every English word from Middle English slogarde

Today it means

noun A person who is lazy, stupid, or idle by habit.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sluggard”. 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 slogarde / sluggard

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