slender

Etymology

From Middle English slendre, sclendre, from Old French esclendre (“thin, slender”), from Old Dutch slinder (“thin, lank”), from Proto-Germanic *slindraz (“sliding, slippery”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“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.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈslɛndɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈslɛndə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)

Adjective

slender (comparative slenderer, superlative slenderest)

1. Thin; slim.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess‎:

     Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.

   A rod is a long slender pole used for angling.

2. (figuratively) meagre; deficient

   Being a person of slender means, he was unable to afford any luxuries.

3. (Gaelic languages) Palatalized.

Anagrams

• lenders, relends