slate

slate

See also: Slate

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sleɪt/
• Hyphenation: slate
• Rhymes: -eɪt

• Audio (UK)

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Etymology 1

From Middle English slate, slat, slatte, sclate, sclatte, from Old French esclate, from esclat (French éclat), from Frankish *slaitan (“to split, break”), from Proto-Germanic *slaitijaną, causative of *slītaną (“to cut up, split”). Doublet of éclat.

Alternative forms

• sclate (obsolete)

Noun

(sense 1) Slate

(sense 3) Slate with writing (1894)

slate (countable and uncountable, plural slates)

1. (uncountable, geology) A fine-grained homogeneous sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash which has been metamorphosed so that it cleaves easily into thin layers.
   • 1941 March, “Notes and News: The Demand for Slate”, in Railway Magazine, page 141:

     Some of the minor Welsh 2 ft. gauge railways, we hear from Mr. N. F. G. Dalston, are enjoying a miniature boom owing to the demand for slate for the repair of damaged roofs.

   • 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:

     The Penrhyn slate quarry possibly dates back to the sixteenth century, as it appears that in 1580 Sion Tudor asked the Bishop of Bangor for a shipload of slate.

2. (uncountable) The bluish-grey colour of most slate.

   slate:  

   Synonyms: slate blue, slate grey, slate gray

3. (countable) A chalkboard, sheet of slate for writing on with chalk or with a thin rod of slate (a slate pencil) formerly commonly used by both students and teachers in schools.
4. (countable) A roofing-tile made of slate.
   • 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:

     In 1765 only 80 men were employed, and the annual output of slates did not exceed 1,000 tons, and large-scale quarrying was not begun by Lord Penrhyn until 1782.

   • 2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Southeastern Commercial Restoration Award: Appledore”, in RAIL, number 946, pages 56-57:

     The necessary works were extensive and included replacing missing and damaged slates and other roof repairs (in order to make the building watertight), pointing and drainpipe replacement, and extensive replacement of rotten floorboarding.

5. (countable) A record of money owed.

   Put it on my slate – I’ll pay you next week.

   Synonyms: account, bill

6. (countable, chiefly US) A list of affiliated candidates for an election.

   Roy Disney led the alternative slate of directors for the stockholder vote.

7. An artificial material resembling slate and used for the same purposes.
8. A thin plate of any material; a flake.
9. A tablet computer.
   • 2012, Chris Sells, ‎Brandon Satrom, ‎Don Box, Building Windows 8 Apps with JavaScript

     Hearing Steve Ballmer and others talk about the availability of Windows 8 on slates, laptops, netbooks, notebooks, and screens from 7 to 70 inches might lead us to believe that Microsoft is attempting to gain market share solely through […]

Derived terms

• alum slate
• blank slate
• chiastolite slate
• clay slate
• clean slate
• drawing slate
• horn slate
• lithographic slate
• log slate
• magic slate
• on the slate
• polishing slate
• slate-coloured junco
• slate pencil
• slate quarry
• slaty
• whet slate
• wipe the slate clean

 

Translations

rock

Arabic: أَرْدْوَاز‎ m (ʾardwāz) Basque: arbela Bulgarian: шиста f (šista) Catalan: pissarra (ca) f, llicorella (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 板岩 (zh) (bǎnyán) Czech: břidlice (cs) f Dutch: lei (nl) n, leisteen (nl) n Finnish: liuskekivi (fi), saviliuske (fi), liuske (fi) French: ardoise (fr) f German: Schiefer (de) m Greek: σχιστόλιθος (el) m (schistólithos) Hindi: स्लेट (hi) f (sleṭ) Hungarian: pala (hu), agyagpala (hu), zsindelypala Irish: slinn f, scláta m Italian: ardesia (it) Japanese: 石板 (ja) (せきばん, sekiban) Luxembourgish: Lee f Maori: mākoha Norman: (Guernsey) dardaise f, (Jersey) ardouaise f Norwegian: skifer (no) m, skiferstein m Persian: پلمه‎ (fa) (palme) Portuguese: ardósia (pt) f Romanian: ardezie (ro) f Russian: ши́фер (ru) m (šífer), аспи́дный сла́нец m (aspídnyj slánec), аспи́д (ru) m (aspíd) Slovak: bridlica (sk) f Spanish: pizarra (es) f Swedish: skiffer (sv) c Turkish: arduvaz (tr), dam taşı, kayağan taşı, kayrak (tr) Volapük: slet (vo) Walloon: schaye (wa) f Welsh: llech f

bluish-grey colour — See also translations at slate blue,‎ slate gray,‎ blue-gray

Dutch: leigrijs (nl) n French: ardoise (fr) f German: Schiefergrau n Hungarian: palaszürke (hu) Italian: ardesia (it), grigio ardesia (it) Romanian: ardezie (ro) f Russian: ши́фер (ru) m (šífer) Volapük: sletaköl

sheet of slate for writing on

Catalan: pissarra (ca) f Czech: břidlicová tabulka f Dutch: lei (nl) n, schoolbord (nl) n Farefare: gʋlsɩgɔ dɔɔgɔ Finnish: rihvelitaulu (fi) French: ardoise (fr) f German: Tafel (de) f, Schiefertafel (de) f Greek: πλάκα (el) f (pláka) Hindi: स्लेट (hi) f (sleṭ) Hungarian: palatábla Irish: scláta m Italian: lavagna (it) f Maori: tereti Moore: lagdwaase, walga Norman: (Guernsey) dardaise f Portuguese: ardósia (pt) f, lousa (pt) f Romanian: tăbliță (ro) f Russian: гри́фельная доска́ (ru) f (grífelʹnaja doská) Slovak: bridlicová tabuľka f Spanish: pizarrón (es) Swedish: griffeltavla (sv) c Turkish: taş tahta (tr), yazı tahtası (tr) Volapük: sletot (vo), sletagliv (vo) Walloon: ardweze (wa) f

tile

Bulgarian: покривна плоча f (pokrivna ploča) Catalan: llosa f Czech: břidlicová tabulka f Dutch: lei (nl) n, leisteen (nl) m Finnish: liuskekivi (fi) French: ardoise (fr) f German: Dachschiefer m Greek: πλακίδιο (el) n (plakídio) Hungarian: pala (hu) Irish: scláta m Italian: tegola d'ardesia Latvian: šīferis m Norman: (Guernsey) dardaise f Portuguese: ardósia (pt) f Romanian: placă de ardezie f Russian: ши́фер (ru) m (šífer), ши́ферная плита́ f (šífernaja plitá) Swedish: skifferplatta c Walloon: schaye (wa) f Welsh: please add this translation if you can

artificial material resembling slate

Bulgarian: плака (bg) f (plaka) German: Kunstschiefer m, Faserzement m, Eternit (de) m or n (widely used trademark) Walloon: eternite (wa) f

record of money owed

Azerbaijani: nisyə dəftəri Dutch: bon (nl), (Flemish) poef (nl) f Finnish: piikki (fi), tili (fi), lasku (fi) French: ardoise (fr) f German: Schuldentafel f, (put something on the slate) etwas anschreiben Hungarian: számla (hu) Italian: conto aperto, a credito, conto (it) Norman: (Guernsey) dardaise f Portuguese: conta (pt) m Romanian: notă de plată f, cont (ro) n Russian: счёт (ru) m (sčot), долгова́я кни́га f (dolgovája kníga) Swedish: krita (sv) c

list of candidates for an election

Bulgarian: листа (bg) f (lista) Czech: kandidátní listina f, kandidátka (cs) f Dutch: kandidatenlijst (nl) f Finnish: ehdokaslista (fi), lista (fi) German: Liste (de) f, Kandidatenliste (de) f Hungarian: jelölőlista Italian: lista candidati Persian: نامزدنامه‎ (fa) (nâmzad-nâme) Romanian: listă electorală f Russian: спи́сок (кандида́тов) m (spísok (kandidátov)) Turkish: aday listesi, liste (tr)

See also

• basalt
• blackboard
• chalkboard
• whiteboard
• Appendix:Colors

Adjective

slate (not comparable)

1. Having the bluish-grey/gray colour of slate.

Hyponyms

• slate black
• slate brown
• slate blue
• slate gray/grey

Translations

bluish-grey/gray like slate — See also translations at slate blue,‎ slate gray,‎ blue-gray

Dutch: leigrijs (nl) German: schiefergrau Greek: σχιστόλιθος (el) m (schistólithos) Hungarian: palaszürke (hu) Italian: ardesia (it), grigio ardesia (it) Persian: پلمه‎ (fa) (palme) Swedish: skiffergrå

Etymology 2

From Middle English slatten, sclatten, from the noun (see above).

Verb

slate (third-person singular simple present slates, present participle slating, simple past and past participle slated)

1. (transitive) To cover with slate.

   The old church ledgers show that the roof was slated in 1775.

2. (transitive, chiefly Britain) To criticise harshly.

   The play was slated by the critics.

3. (transitive, chiefly US) To schedule.

   The election was slated for November 2nd.

   • 2019 October, Tony Miles and Philip Sherratt, “EMR kicks off new era”, in Modern Railways, page 58:

     The Cleethorpes to Barton-on-Humber branch had been slated to transfer from Northern into the East Midlands franchise, but this move is still awaiting a DfT decision.

4. (transitive, chiefly US) To anticipate or strongly expect.

   The next version of our software is slated to be the best release ever.

5. (transitive, regional) To set a dog upon (a person).
6. (transitive) To nominate, appoint, or designate.

Derived terms

• slateable
• slated
• slater
• slating

 

Translations

criticise/criticize harshly

Bulgarian: критикувам остро (kritikuvam ostro) Catalan: vituperar (ca) Czech: ztrhat pf Dutch: afmaken (nl), met de grond gelijk maken Finnish: murskata (fi) German: verreissen (de) Hungarian: lehúz (hu) Italian: redarguire (it) Russian: раскритикова́ть (ru) pf (raskritikovátʹ), устро́ить разно́с pf (ustróitʹ raznós) Spanish: vapulear (es), criticar duramente, vituperar (es) Swedish: fördöma (sv) Turkish: yola çıkmak (tr) Ukrainian: розкритико́вувати impf (rozkrytykóvuvaty), розкритикува́ти (uk) pf (rozkrytykuváty)

schedule

Czech: plánovat (cs) impf Dutch: plannen (nl), vastleggen (nl) op (nl), voor (nl) Finnish: aikatauluttaa German: ansetzen (de), planen (de) Italian: programmare (it), prevedere (it), pianificare (it) Romanian: programa (ro), planifica (ro) Russian: плани́ровать (ru) impf (planírovatʹ), намеча́ть (ru) impf (namečátʹ), назнача́ть (ru) impf (naznačátʹ) Spanish: fechar (es), programar (es), fijar (es) Swedish: planera (sv), schemalägga (sv) Turkish: planlamak (tr)

anticipate or strongly expect

Czech: předpovídat (cs) impf Dutch: voorzien (nl), voorbestemmen (nl) Finnish: odottaa (fi), uskoa (fi) German: vorsehen (de), bestimmen (de) Italian: destinare (it), prevedere (it) Romanian: destina (ro) Russian: предназнача́ть (ru) impf (prednaznačátʹ) Slovak byť predurčený Spanish: destinar (es) Swedish: förutspå (sv), förutse (sv), förutsäga (sv), förvänta (sv) Turkish: kararlaştırmak (tr)

References

• slate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Astle, ETLAs, Teals, Tesla, astel, laste, lates, least, leats, salet, setal, stale, steal, stela, taels, tales, teals, telas, tesla