sly的词源

英文词源

sly

sly: [12] Etymologically, sly means ‘able to hit’. It was borrowed from Old Norse slǣgr ‘clever, cunning’, which went back ultimately to the prehistoric Germanic base *slakh-, *slag-, *slōg- ‘hit’ (source also of English slaughter, slay, etc). The word’s original approbatory connotations of ‘cleverness’ or ‘skill’ survived into the 20th century in northern dialects, but elsewhere they were soon ousted by the notion of ‘underhandedness’. More neutral associations linger on in sleight ‘dexterity’ [13] (as in ‘sleight of hand’), which was acquired from an Old Norse derivative of slǣgr.
=> slaughter, slay, sleight

sly (adj.)

c. 1200, "skillful, clever, dexterous," from Old Norse sloegr "cunning, crafty, sly," from Proto-Germanic *slogis (cognates: Low German slu "cunning, sly," German schlau), probably from base *slak- "to strike, hit" (see slay (v.)), with an original notion of "able to hit." Compare German verschlagen "cunning, crafty, sly," schlagfertig "quick-witted," literally "strike-ready," from schlagen "to strike." A non-pejorative use of the word lingered in northern English dialect until 20c. On the sly "in secret" is recorded from 1812. Sly-boots "a seeming Silly, but subtil Fellow" is in the 1700 "Dictionary of the Canting Crew."

中文词源

sly：狡猾的，狡诈的

来自中古英语 sly,来自古诺斯语 sloegr,狡猾的，狡诈的，可能来自 Proto-Germanic*slogiz,活 泼的，敏捷的，狡猾的，来自 PIE*slak,击打，攻击，词源同 slay,sleight.

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：sly 词源，sly 含义。