slight

slight
\ \ [13] The ancestral sense of slight islevel, even’. It goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *slekhtaz, a word of unknown origin which had that meaning, but whose descendants have diversified semantically beyond all recognition (German schlecht and Dutch slecht, for instance, now meanbad’, having arrived there by way oflevel, smoothandsimple, ordinary’). ‘Smoothwas the original meaning of English slight (Miles Coverdale, in his 1535 translation of the Bible, recorded how Davidchose five slight stones out of the riverto confront Goliath with (1 Samuel 17:40), where the Authorized Version of 1611 hassmooth stones’), and it survived dialectally into the 20th century. By the 14th century, however, it was evolving intoslim’, and this eventually became, in the early 16th century, ‘small in amount’. English acquired the adjective from Old Norse sléttrsmooth’, and Old Norse was also the original source of a verb slight [13], meaningmake level or smooth’. This died out in the 17th century, however, and the modern verb slightdisdain, snub’, first recorded at the end of the 16th century, is derived from the adjective, in the senseof little importance’. The noun comes from the verb.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Slight — Slight, a. [Compar. {Slighter}; superl. {Slightest}.] [OE. sli?t, sleght, probably from OD. slicht, slecht, simple, plain, D. slecht; akin to OFries. sliucht, G. schlecht, schlicht, OHG. sleht smooth, simple, Icel. sl?ttr smooth, Sw. sl[ a]t,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Slight — Slight, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Slighted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Slighting}.] To disregard, as of little value and unworthy of notice; to make light of; as, to slight the divine commands. Milton. [1913 Webster] The wretch who slights the bounty of the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • slight — slight·er; slight; slight·ish; slight·ly; slight·ness; slight·ing·ly; …   English syllables

  • slight — I adjective ancillary, auxiliary, diminutive, exiguous, exiguus, immaterial, inappreciable, inconsequential, inconsiderable, inferior, insignificant, levis, light, limited, little, meager, mean, minor, minute, modest, negligible, niggardly,… …   Law dictionary

  • slight — [adj1] insignificant, small fat, feeble, inconsiderable, insubstantial, meager, minor, modest, negligible, off, outside, paltry, petty, piddling, remote, scanty, slender, slim, sparse, superficial, trifling, trivial, unessential, unimportant,… …   New thesaurus

  • Slight — Slight, adv. Slightly. [Obs. or Poetic] [1913 Webster] Think not so slight of glory. Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Slight — is a surname, and may refer to:* Aaron Slight (born 1966), former professional motorcycle road racer * Jim Slight (1855 1930), Australian cricketeree also* Sleight …   Wikipedia

  • slight — [slīt] adj. [ME (northern dial.) sliht < OE, kin to OHG sleht, straight, smooth: for IE base see SLICK] 1. a) light in form or build; not stout or heavy; slender b) frail; fragile 2. having little weight, strength, substance, or significance… …   English World dictionary

  • slight|ly — «SLYT lee», adverb. 1. in a slight manner. 2. to a slight degree; a little; somewhat: »I know him slightly. 3. in a slighting manner; disdainfully …   Useful english dictionary

  • Slight — Slight, n. The act of slighting; the manifestation of a moderate degree of contempt, as by neglect or oversight; neglect; indignity. [1913 Webster] Syn: Neglect; disregard; inattention; contempt; disdain; scorn; disgrace; indignity; disparagement …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Slight — Slight, n. Sleight. Spenser. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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