sallow

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsæ.ləʊ/
Rhymes: -æləʊ

Etymology 1

From Middle English salowe, from Old English salu, from Proto-Germanic *salwaz (compare Dutch zaluw, dialectal German sal), from Proto-Indo-European *solH- (compare Irish salach (“dirty”), Welsh halog, Latin salīva, Russian соло́вый (solóvyj, “cream-colored”)).

Adjective

sallow (comparative sallower, superlative sallowest)

(of skin) Yellowish.
1. (most regions, of Caucasian skin) Of a sickly pale colour.
  - 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, OCLC 7780546; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., 55 Fifth Avenue, [1933], OCLC 2666860, page 0091:
    
    Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  - 1934, George Orwell, Burmese Days:
    Scenes like this — the sallow evening light, the old Indian cropping grass, the creak of the cartwheels, the streaming egrets — were more native to him than England.
2. (Ireland) Of a tan colour, associated with people from southern Europe or East Asia.
  - 2007, David McWilliams, "We must begin the culture debate", 23 December:
    The girls are mostly Slavic-pretty, long-limbed with high cheekbones, sallow skin and green eyes. They are the closest thing to supermodels that Mulhuddart has ever seen.
  - 2012, Aisling, "Am I pink or yellow? How to choose the right foundation tone. And what is the deal with Mac foundations?" beaut.ie (17 January):
    A yellow undertone is often found on people with sallow skin – e.g. Asian.
  - 2012, Billy Keane, "I feel so much for Mickey. Maybe there is peace for him in sport", Irish Independent (13 June):
    She had such lovely sallow skin, the handsome high cheekbones of the north with the brown conker-colour eyes and the dark silken hair.
Dirty; murky.

Synonyms

(sickly pale): See also Thesaurus:pallid

Translations

yellowish

Czech: zažloutlý (cs)
Finnish: kellertävä (fi), harmaankeltainen
French: cireux (fr), jaunâtre (fr)
Greek: ωχρός (el) m (ochrós), χλωμός (el) m (chlomós)
Latin: lūridus

Persian: زرد‎‎ (fa) (zard)
Russian: земли́стый (ru) (zemlístyj)
Scottish Gaelic: odhar
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: płowy

dirty

Etymology 2

From Middle English salwe, from Old English sealh, from Proto-Germanic *salhaz, masculine variant of *salhō, *salhjōn (compare Low German Sal, Saal; Swedish sälg), from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂lk-, *sh₂lik- (compare Welsh helyg, Latin salix), probably originally a borrowing from some other language.

Noun

sallow (plural sallows)

A European willow, Salix caprea, that has broad leaves, large catkins and tough wood.
- 1819, Keats, To Autumn:
  Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
  
  Among the river sallows, borne aloft
  
  Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
Willow twigs.
- (Can we date this quote?) Fawkes
  Bend the pliant sallow to a shield.
- (Can we date this quote?) Emerson
  The sallow knows the basketmaker's thumb.

Derived terms

grey sallow (Salix cinerea)
sallow flute

Translations

Salix caprea

Czech: vrba jíva, jíva
Finnish: raita (fi)
French: saule (fr) m

Greek: ιτιά (el) f (itiá)
Russian: и́ва козья f (íva kozʹja)
Serbo-Croatian: iva (sh) f

Anagrams

allows

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