sloe

See also: slöe and slö

English

Etymology

From Old English slāh, from Proto-Germanic *slaihwō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leie- (“bluish”); related to Danish slåen, Dutch slee, German Schlehe and perhaps with Russian сли́ва (slíva, “plum”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sləʊ/

Noun

sloe (plural sloes)

The small, bitter, wild fruit of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa).
- 1796, Zoonomia, or, the Laws of Organic Life, by Erasmus Darwin, 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!
- 1899, Resurrection, by Leo Tolstoy, translation by Maude, chapter 12
  Katusha, with her eyes black as sloes, her face radiant with joy, was flying towards him, and they caught hold of each other`s hands.
The tree Prunus spinosa.
Any of various other plants of the genus Prunus, as a shrub or small tree, Prunus alleghaniensis, bearing dark-purple fruit.

Derived terms

sloe gin
sloe-eyed

Translations

fruit of Prunus spinosa

Armenian: մամուխ (hy) (mamux) (fruit)
Czech: trnka f
Finnish: oratuomen marja (fruit)
Galician: abruño (gl) m, agruño (gl) m
German: Schlehe (de) f
Irish: airne f
Old Irish: áirne f

Italian: prugnola f
Portuguese: abrunho (pt) m
Russian: тёрн (ru) m (tjorn), терно́вая я́года f (ternóvaja jágoda)
Spanish: endrina (es) f
Swedish: slånbär (sv) n

tree Prunus spinosa — see blackthorn

tree of the genus Prunus bearing dark-purple fruit

Finnish: luumu (fi)
German: Schlehe (de) f, Schlehdorn m
Irish: airne f
Old Irish: áirne 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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Basque: ^{(please verify)} basaran (eu)
Danish: ^{(please verify)} slåen (da)
French: ^{(please verify)} prunelle (fr) f
Georgian: ^{(please verify)} კვრინჩხი (ḳvrinčxi)
Luxembourgish: ^{(please verify)} Schléif f

Norman: ^{(please verify)} néthe êpîngne f, ^{(please verify)} reunellyi m, ^{(please verify)} preunelle f
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} slåpetorn
Persian: ^{(please verify)} آلوچه جنگلی‎ (āluche jangali)
Russian: ^{(please verify)} тёрн (ru) m (tjorn), ^{(please verify)} терно́вник (ru) m (ternóvnik)

Anagrams

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