English
slot
Slot comes from Old French esclot.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400esclot
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slot
- Englishearliest quotation 1612same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400esclot
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slot
- Englishearliest quotation 1612same form
Earliest quotation: 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion: “The Huntsman by his slot, or breaking earth, perceaves”.
The story
The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.
Every English word from Old French esclot
Another origin of slot
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*slutąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*slot‘bar, bolt’reconstructed
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600slotuncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishtodaysame form
The verb is probably from Middle Dutch sluten (‘to close, to lock’) (Modern Dutch sluiten (‘to close’)).
Today it means
noun A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French esclot / slot