sclendre

Middle English

Alternative forms

• sclendere, sklendre, sklendere, slendre, slender

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French esclendre.

Adjective

sclendre

1. thin, lean, gaunt
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, General Prologue, The Canterbury Tales, line 587-588:

     The Reve was a sclendre colerik man,
     His berd was shave as ny as ever he can.

     The Reeve was a slender choleric man,
     His beard was shaved as close as ever he can.

   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Monk's Prologue, The Canterbury Tales, line 3147-3148:

     ‘This maketh that our heires been so sclendre
     And feble, that they may nat wel engendre.’

     ‘This makes our heirs to be so scrawny
     And feeble that they can not well beget children.’

Descendants

• English: slender
• Yola: slendeare

References

• “sclendre, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.