English
slaver
Slaver comes from Old Norse slafra ‘to slaver’.
- Old Norsec. 800–1350slafra‘to slaver’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slaveren
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1611slaver
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Old Norsec. 800–1350slafra‘to slaver’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slaveren
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1611slaver
Earliest quotation: c. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline: “should I, damn'd then, / Slaver with lips as…”
Every English word from Old Norse slafra
Today it means
verb To drool saliva from the mouth; to slobber.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Norse slafra / slaver