Added 9 October 2026
slender
/ˈslɛndə/ adjective
In Latin: tenuis, gracilis Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about slender at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
- To attenuate.
Origin
From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Middle Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic *slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”). Cognate with Bavarian Schlenderling (“that which dangles”), German schlendern (“to saunter, stroll”), Dutch slidderen, slinderen (“to wriggle, creep like a serpent”), Low German slindern (“to slide on ice”). More at slide, slither.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)