Etymograph

English

forslow

Forslow comes from Old English forslāwian ‘to be slow or unwilling, lose by sloth,…’, and goes back to slāwian.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150slāwian
  2. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150forslāwian‘to be slow or unwilling, lose by sloth, neglect through laziness’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forslowen
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592forslow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150slāwian
  2. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150forslāwian‘to be slow or unwilling, lose by sloth, neglect through laziness’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forslowen
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592forslow

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Foreslow no longer, make we hence amaine.”

Formed from for- + slow

Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’

Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’

Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’

English for-

Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz ‘blunt’

Proto-West Germanic *slaiw

Old English slāw ‘lazy’

Middle English slaw

English slow

Every English word from Old English slāwian

Today it means

verb To be dilatory about; put off; postpone; neglect; omit.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old English slāwian / forslow

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