sloe

See also: slöe, slö, and slø

English

A sloe, bearing fruits

Etymology

From Middle English slo, sla, sloo, from Old English slā, slāh, from Proto-West Germanic *slaihā, from Proto-Germanic *slaihǭ, *slaihwō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₃y- (“bluish”). Doublet of Sliwa.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsləʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsloʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophone: slow

Noun

sloe (plural sloes)

1. The small, astringent, wild fruit of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa).
   • 1796, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia, or, the Laws of Organic Life, part II.I.I.III:

     There is also a dryness in the mouth from the increased action of the absorbent vessels, when a sloe or a crab-apple are masticated...

   • 1872, The Snow Queen by H. C. Andersen, translation by Paull:

     The dew-drops fell like water, leaf after leaf dropped from the trees, the sloe-thorn alone still bore fruit, but the sloes were sour, and set the teeth on edge. Oh, how dark and weary the whole world appeared!

   • 1900, Leo Tolstoy, “Twelve Years before”, in Louise Maude, transl., Resurrection: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, book I, page 46:

     Katúsha, with her eyes black as sloes, her face radiant with joy, was flying towards him, and they caught hold of each other's hands.

2. The tree Prunus spinosa.
3. Any of various other plants of the genus Prunus, as a shrub or small tree, Prunus alleghaniensis, bearing dark-purple fruit.

Derived terms

• sloebush
• sloe gin
• sloe-eyed

Translations

fruit of Prunus spinosa

• Abaza: дзхӏвы (dzḥʷə)
• Albanian: kullumbri
• Aragonese: arañón m
• Armenian: մամուխ (hy) (mamux), կոկան (hy) (kokan)
• Asturian: andrín (ast) m, prunu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: göyəm (az)
• Bashkir: күгэн (kügen)
• Bulgarian: трънка (bg) f (trǎnka)
• Catalan: aranyó (ca) m
• Chagatai: كوگم (köğem)
• Czech: trnka (cs) f
• Dutch: slee (nl) m, sleepruim (nl) f
• Esperanto: prunelo
• Finnish: oratuomenmarja, oratuomen marja
• French: prunelle (fr) f
• Gagauz:

  Cyrillic: гӱвен

  Latin: güven

• Galician: abruño (gl) m, agruño (gl) m
• Georgian: კვრინჩხი (ḳvrinčxi)
• German: Schlehe (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: βράβυλον n (brábulon)

• Hungarian: kökény (hu)
• Icelandic: þyrniplóma f
• Irish: airne f

  Old Irish: áirne f

• Italian: prugnola f
• Kumyk: гоган (gogan)
• Lak: бухъ (buq)
• Middle English: slo
• Nogai: көген
• Occitan: aranhon (oc) m, aragnou m, agragnou m
• Ossetian: какон (kakon)
• Persian: گوجه وحشی (gowje vahši), آلوچه (fa) (âluče) (generic word for small Prunus fruits), آلوچه جنگلی (âluče jangali)
• Plautdietsch: Schlee m
• Polish: tarnina (pl) f, tarka (pl) f, ciarka f, cierniówka f
• Portuguese: abrunho (pt) m
• Romani: mamux f
• Russian: тёрн (ru) m (tjorn), терно́вая я́года f (ternóvaja jágoda)
• Slovene: opȃrnica f, trnúlja f, trnólja f, trnóljica f
• Spanish: endrina (es) f, arañón m
• Swedish: slånbär (sv) n
• Tatar: күгэн (kügen)
• Turkish:

  Modern Turkish: göğem (tr) — dialectally also gövem (tr), güvem, güğem —, çakaleriği (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: گوگم (göğem, güğem), گووم (gövem, güvem)

• Ukrainian: терен m (teren), тернова ягода f (ternova jahoda)

tree Prunus spinosa — see blackthorn

tree of the genus Prunus bearing dark-purple fruit

• Finnish: luumu (fi)
• Galician: abruñeiro (gl) m, agruñeiro m, escambroeiro m, ameixeira (gl) f
• Portuguese: abrunho (pt) m, abrunheiro (pt) m
• Spanish: endrino (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Basque: ^{(please verify)} basaran (eu)
• Danish: ^{(please verify)} slåen (da)
• Luxembourgish: ^{(please verify)} Schléif f
• Norman: ^{(please verify)} néthe êpîngne f, ^{(please verify)} reunellyi m, ^{(please verify)} preunelle f
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} slåpetorn

Anagrams

• Elos, elos, EOLs, ESOL, LEOs, Leos, leos, Lose, lose, OELs, selo, Sole, sole

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• sloa (verb, a-infinitive)

Etymology

From Old Norse slóði m.

Noun

sloe m (definite singular sloen, indefinite plural sloar, definite plural sloane)

1. a bunch of branches or small trees that one drags after one self (to haul hey, sweep away snow, or used as a break)
2. a lazy person, a good-for-nothing, a n'er-do-well

Verb

sloe (present tense sloar, past tense sloa, past participle sloa, passive infinitive sloast, present participle sloande, imperative sloe/slo)

1. (transitive) to drag
2. (intransitive) to be lazy

References

• “sloe” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• lose, sole