sloth
Appearance
See also: slóð
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English slouthe, slewthe (“laziness”), from Old English slǣwþ (“sloth, indolence, laziness, inertness, torpor”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiwiþu, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwiþō (“slowness, lateness”), equivalent to slow + -th. Cognate with Scots sleuth (“sloth, slowness”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /sləʊθ/, /slɒθ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /slɔθ/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /slɑθ/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /slɒθ/
- Rhymes: -əʊθ, -ɒθ
Noun
[edit]sloth (countable and uncountable, plural sloths)
- (uncountable) Laziness; slowness in the mindset; disinclination to action or labour.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 787–792:
- Who having ſpilt much blood, and don much waſte / Subduing Nations, and achievd thereby / Fame in the World, high titles, and rich prey, / Shall change thir courſe to pleaſure, eaſe, and ſloth, / Surfet, and luſt, till wantonneſs and pride / Raiſe out of friendſhip hoſtil deeds in Peace.
- 1758, Benjamin Franklin, Preliminary Address to the Pennsylvania Almanac:
- Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears.
- 1953 April, “Arrears of Station Maintenance”, in Railway Magazine, page 217:
- Mr. Elliot's frank statement that "sloth and untidiness are indefensible" is a sign that the task will be tackled with vigour.
- (countable) A herbivorous, arboreal South American mammal of the families Choloepodidae and Bradypodidae, noted for its slowness and inactivity.
- (rare) A collective term for a group of bears.
Usage notes
[edit]Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.
Synonyms
[edit]- (animal): tardigrade
Antonyms
[edit]Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]laziness
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mammal
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Verb
[edit]sloth (third-person singular simple present sloths, present participle slothing, simple past and past participle slothed)
- (obsolete, intransitive, transitive) To be idle; to idle (away time).
- 1676, John Bunyan, The Strait Gate, or, Great Difficulty of Going to Heaven[1], London: Francis Smith, page 69:
- […] the most of professors are for imbezzeling, mispending and slothing away their time, their talents, their opportunities to do good in […]
- 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid[2], London: T. Passinger, page 2:
- That you endeavour carefully to please your Lady, Master or Mistress, be faithful, diligent and submissive to them, encline not to sloth or laze in bed, but rise early in a morning.
Further reading
[edit]- “sloth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “sloth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -th
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊθ
- Rhymes:English/əʊθ/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/ɒθ
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with rare senses
- English verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Anteaters and sloths