▪ I. sloe
(sləʊ)
Forms: α. 1 slah (slach-), slaᵹ (slaᵹh-), 1, 5 sla, 3–7 slo, 4–6 sloo, 6 sloa, 6– sloe (9 dial. sloo, slue, slew). β. pl. 1 slan, 4 slon, 5 sloon, 5–6 sloen, 7 slone, slane. γ. 6–7 slow(e. δ. 6– Sc. and north. slae, 9 north. sla(a, slaigh, slay, slea, slee, etc.
[OE. slá(h), etc., = Fris. slé, MDu. slee, slie (Du. slee, Flem. slei, sleie), sleeu (Kilian sleeuwe), MLG. slee (LG. slê, slî), OHG. slêha (MHG. slêhe, G. schlehe, † schlee), perh. related to OSlav. and Russ. sliva, Lith. sl{yacu}was plum.
The original plural in -n (OE. slán, ME. slōn) is recorded down to the 17th cent., and is the source of the sing. forms now current in southern dialects (see Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Slone). A similar transference appears in MDu. sleen (Flem. sleen, slene), MLG. slên, slein (LG. slên, slein, slîn, also slôn, whence probably Da. slaaen, Sw. slån).]
1. a. The fruit of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), a small ovate or globose drupe of a black or dark-purple colour and sharp sour taste.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. B 75, Bellicum, slaᵹ. a 1000 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 196 Brumela, bellicum, vel sla. c 1000 Saxon Leechd. II. 32 Ᵹenim onwære slah..& wring þurh clað on þæt eaᵹe. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 679 Appul, pere, and slo. ? c 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 928 Blak as bery, or any slo. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slo, frute, prunum, vel spinum. 1483 Cath. Angl. 342/2 A Sla, spinum, mespilum. 1558 T. Phaer æneid iii. H iv, For hunger, sloes hath ben my food. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 91 My self I dieted with sloas. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 118 The iuyce of them, especially of Sloes,..is of excellent efficacy. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 215 He knew to..tame to Plumbs, the Sourness of the Sloes. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 7. 47 He will swallow, with Transport, what was squeezed from the Sloe. 1774 Pennant Tours Scotl. 214 Sloes are the only fruits of the island. 1842 Dumfries Herald Oct., Sloes..are almost always plentiful. 1885 Tennyson Flight iv, The blackthorn-blossom fades and falls and leaves the bitter sloe. |
| β a 1000 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 269 Moros, slan. 13.. K. Alis. 4983 (Laud MS.), Oþer mete þai ne habben Bot hawen, hepen, slon, & crabben. 14.. Ms. Harl. 3388 in Cockayne Saxon Leechd. III. 345/1 Succus prunellarum immaturarum, grene slane wose. c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 86 Take and gedre þe a good quantite of sloon, þat bene rype. 1573 Baret Alv. (1580) F iij, Haw⁓bearies, sloen, gooseberries and such like. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 169 Bulleis, Skegs, and Slone (which are the berries, as it were, or fruit of the wild Plum tree). 1633 Hart Diet of Diseased i. xvi. 63 Plummes..are of two sorts, either wilde, called sloes or slane [etc.]. |
| γ 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 86 Slowes blacke as ieat. 1604 Drayton Owle 702 The Hip, the Haw, the Slow, the Bramble-berrie. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 11 As far..as the best Abricot is beyond the worst Slow or Crab. |
| δ a 1585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 322, I saw..A bush of bitter Slaes. [See also slocken v. 3.]. 1786 Burns Holy Fair iii, Their visage wither'd, lang an' thin, An' sour as ony slaes! a 1802 Cospatrick xx. in Scott Minstrelsy, To the grene wood I maun gae, To pu' the red rose and the slae. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Slaa, sloe. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 75 To feast on the bramble-berries brown An' gather the glossy slaes. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict., Slaigh, the fruit of the black-thorn. |
b. As the type of something having little or no value. (So
OF. parnele,
= F.
prunelle.)
| c 1250 Orison our Lady 28 in O.E. Misc. 160 Þis liues blisse nis wurð a slo. a 1300 Havelok 2051 Of hem ne yeue ich nouht a slo. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 141 Þer nas man in al þis londe..Þat bireft him worþ of a slo [C. sloo]. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1120 Þou schalt do so, And by desir of good, nat sette a slo. c 1450 Lovelich Merlin 7152 Al availled hit hem not a slo. |
c. transf. The apple
of one's eye.
| 1884 Graphic Xmas No. 13/2, I loved him..like the sloe of my eye. |
2. a. The blackthorn,
Prunus spinosa.
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sloe-worm, That of the sloe is of a greyish hue, and its spines longer. 1791 Burns Lament Mary Queen of Scots iii, The hawthorn's budding in the glen, And milk-white is the slae. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 51 [This lichen is] whitest on the sloe. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 68/2 Of the Plum genus, thus restricted, there is in common use the Garden Plum,..the Bullace,..and the Sloe. 1882 Garden 15 Apr. 247/1 We are grateful to the Sloe for the way which it adorns hedgerow, rock, or copse..in spring with its fearless bloom. |
b. U.S. (See
quots.)
| 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 303 Viburnum prunifolium, Black Haw, Sloe. 1882 F. B. Hough Elem. Forestry 269 Haw: Sloe: Arrow-Wood (Genus Viburnum). 1898 L. H. Bailey Evol. Native Fruits 224 The black sloe of the southern states, Prunus umbellata, attains a height of twelve to twenty feet. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
sloe-black,
sloe-blue,
sloe-bush,
sloe-eye,
sloe-eyed,
sloe-feeder,
sloe gin,
sloe-juice,
sloe-leaf,
sloe-stem,
sloe-worm.
| 1735 Somerville Chase i. 241 His large *Sloe-black Eyes Melt in soft Blandishments. 1882 Black Shandon Bells i, Those soft, large, sloe-black eyes. |
| 1799 M. Underwood Dis. Childr. (ed. 4) II. 183 A *sloe-blue or leaden colour of the lips. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 104 Our *slobush or blak thorn is one kynde. 1894 E. Clodd FitzGerald's Grave 8 The hedges, in their tangle of sweetbriar and sloe⁓bush and bramble. |
| 1957 V. J. Kehoe Technique Film & T.V. Make-Up ix. 107 (caption) Effect of *sloe eye after applying latex to outer ends of lashes and eyelid and pressing them together. 1977 N. Marsh Last Ditch ii. 37 His sloe eyes looked out of a pale face. |
| 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xii, This *sloe-eyed, peony-faced girl. 1894 D. C. Murray Making of a Novelist 133 Hook-nosed, sloe-eyed and greasy of complexion. |
| 1855 Zoologist XIII. 4846 It is probable that many other *sloe-feeders will be found also to occur on the plum. |
| 1895 Outing XXVII. 194 Sampling some of his famous *sloe gin. |
| 1798 O'Keeffe Wild Oats i. i, Poison yourself with *sloe-juice. 1846 Mrs. Gore Eng. Charact. (1852) 140 His evening paper and sloe-juice negus. |
| 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. vi, A small amount of dried *sloe-leaves. |
| 1708 Phillips Cyder i. 19 The *Sloe-Stem bearing Sylvan Plums austere. |
| 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl., *Sloe-worm,..the name of an insect found on the leaves of sloe, or black-thorn, and sometimes on those of the garden-plum. |
▪ II. sloe obs. variant of
slay v.