sloth

sloth

See also: slóð

English

A sloth (2)

Alternative forms

• sloath, slowth (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English slouthe, slewthe (“laziness”), from Old English slǣwþ (“sloth, indolence, laziness, inertness, torpor”), from Proto-Germanic *slaiwiþō (“slowness, lateness”), equivalent to slow +‎ -th. Cognate with Scots sleuth (“sloth, slowness”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sləʊθ/

  • Audio (UK)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /slɔθ/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /slɑθ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /slɒθ/
• Rhymes: -əʊθ, -ɒθ

Noun

sloth (countable and uncountable, plural sloths)

1. (uncountable) Laziness; slowness in the mindset; disinclination to action or labour.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 787–792:

     Who having ſpilt much blood, and don much waſte / Subduing Nations, and achievd thereby / Fame in the World, high titles, and rich prey, / Shall change thir courſe to pleaſure, eaſe, and ſloth, / Surfet, and luſt, till wantonneſs and pride / Raiſe out of friendſhip hoſtil deeds in Peace.

   • 1758, Benjamin Franklin, Preliminary Address to the Pennsylvania Almanac

     Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears.

2. (countable) A herbivorous, arboreal South American mammal of the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae, noted for its slowness and inactivity.
3. (rare) A collective term for a group of bears.

Usage notes

Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.

Synonyms

• (animal): tardigrade

Hyponyms

• (animal): two-toed sloth, three-toed sloth

Derived terms

Derived terms

• Australian sloth
• forsloth
• native sloth
• sloth animalcule
• sloth bear
• slothful
• sloth monkey

Related terms

• slowth

Translations

laziness

Afrikaans: luiheid Albanian: përtesë (sq) f Arabic: كَسَل‎ m (kasal) Armenian: ծուլություն (hy) (culutʿyun) Assamese: এলাহ (elah) Azerbaijani: tənbəllik (az) Basque: nagitasun Belarusian: ляно́та f (ljanóta) Bengali: আলস্য (alôsẏ) Bulgarian: мъ́рзел (bg) m (mǎ́rzel) Burmese: ပျင်းရိခြင်း (pyang:ri.hkrang:) Catalan: accídia (ca) f, peresa (ca) f, mandra (ca) f Cebuano: katapol Chichewa: ulesi Chinese: Mandarin: 懶惰／懒惰 (zh) (lǎnduò) Czech: lenost f Danish: dovenskab (da) c Dutch: luiheid (nl) f, traagheid (nl) f Esperanto: pigreco Estonian: laiskus Faroese: dølskni n, leti f Finnish: laiskuus (fi) French: paresse (fr) f Galician: nugalla (gl) f, preguiza (gl) f, lacazanería f, doca (gl) f, galbana (gl) f Georgian: უქნარობა (uknaroba), სიზარმაცე (sizarmace) German: Trägheit (de) f, Faulheit (de) f, Müßiggang (de) m Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹 f (latei) Greek: νωθρότητα (el) f (nothrótita), τεμπελιά (el) f (tempeliá) Gujarati: આળસ m (āḷsa) Haitian Creole: parès Hausa: lalaci, ragwanci Hebrew: עצלות‎ f (‘atzlút), עצלנות‎ f (‘atzlanút) Hindi: आलस्य (hi) m (ālasya) Hmong Dô: kev ua tub nkeeg Hungarian: lustaság (hu), tunyaság, restség (hu), henyeség (hu) Icelandic: leti f, ómennska f, dugleysi n, dáðleysi n Ido: ociereso (io) Igbo: arafo, agara Indonesian: kemalasan (id) Irish: leisce m, aimhleisce f, búistíocht f Italian: pigrizia (it) f, (deadly sin) accidia (it) f Japanese: 怠惰 (ja) (たいだ, taida) Javanese: kesed (jv) Kalmyk: удан (udan) Kannada: ಸೋಮಾರಿತನ (kn) (sōmāritana) Kazakh: жалқаулық (kk) (jalqaulyq) Korean: 게으름 (ko) (geeureum) Lao: ຄວາມຂີ້ຄ້ານ (khuām khī khān) Latin: pigritia f Latvian: slinkums m Lithuanian: tinginystė m Macedonian: мрзеливост f (mrzelivost) Malagasy: hakamoana Malay: kemalasan, sifat malas Malayalam: മടി (ml) (maṭi) Maltese: għażż m Maori: māngeretanga Marathi: आळस m (āḷas) Mongolian: залхуурал (mn) (zalxuural) Nepali: आलस्य (ne) (ālasya) Norwegian: latskap m, lediggang m Occitan: pigresa (oc) f, peresa f Persian: تنبلی‎ (fa) (tambali) Polish: lenistwo (pl) n Portuguese: preguiça (pt) f Punjabi: ਆਲਸ (pa) (ālas) Romanian: lene (ro) f Russian: лень (ru) f (lenʹ), (deadly sin) ле́ность (ru) f (lénostʹ) Scottish Gaelic: a' corra-leisg f, seothaiche m, leisge f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: лењост f, лијеност f Roman: lenjost (sh) m, lijenost (sh) m Sinhalese: කම්මැලිකම නිසා (kammælikama nisā) Slovak: lenivosť f Slovene: lenoba (sl) f Somali: caajisnimo Sotho: botsoa Spanish: pereza (es) f Sundanese: hoream Swahili: uvivu (sw) class u/zi Swedish: lättja (sv) c, lathet (sv) c Tagalog: katamaran Tajik: танбалӣ (tanbalī) Tamil: சோம்பல் (ta) (cōmpal) Telugu: సోమరితనం (sōmaritanaṁ) Thai: ความเกียจคร้าน (kwaam-gìiat-kráan) Tocharian B: ālasäññe Turkish: tembellik (tr), miskinlik (tr), uyuşukluk (tr), meskenet (tr) Ukrainian: лінь f (linʹ), ле́дарство n (lédarstvo), лі́нощі f pl (línošči) Urdu: آلسی‎ (ur) m (ālasya) Uzbek: dangasalik (uz), ishyoqmaslik (uz) Vietnamese: lười (vi) Volapük: trög (vo) Welsh: diogi m Yiddish: פֿוילקײַט‎ f (foylkayt) Yoruba: imẹlẹ Zulu: ubuvila

mammal

Arabic: كَسْلَان‎ m (kaslān) Armenian: համրուկ (hy) (hamruk), համրագնաց (hy) (hamragnacʿ) Assamese: শ্লথ (sloth) Azerbaijani: ərincək Basque: nagi Belarusian: ляні́вец m (ljanívjec) Bengali: স্লথ (slôthô) Bulgarian: лени́вец (bg) m (lenívec) Burmese: ဆလောက်ကောင် (hca.laukkaung) Catalan: peresós (ca) m Cherokee: ᎤᏍᎦᏃᎵ ᏲᎾᎢᏳᏍᏗ (usganoli yonaiyusdi), ᎤᏂᏍᎦᏃᎵ ᏲᎾᎢᏳᏍᏗ (unisganoli yonaiyusdi) Chinese: Mandarin: 樹懶／树懒 (zh) (shùlǎn) Czech: lenochod (cs) m Danish: dovendyr n Dutch: luiaard (nl) m Esperanto: bradipo Estonian: laiskloom Faroese: letidýr n Finnish: laiskiainen (fi) French: paresseux (fr) m, aï (fr) m Georgian: ზარმაცა (zarmaca) German: Faultier (de) n Greek: βραδύπους (el) m (vradýpous) Hebrew: עַצְלָן‎ (he) m (atslán) Hindi: स्‍लॉथ (s‍lŏth) Hungarian: lajhár (hu) Icelandic: letidýr n Ido: bradipo (io) Indonesian: kukang (id), kungkang (id) Irish: spadán m Italian: bradipo (it) m Japanese: ナマケモノ (ja) (namakemono), 樹懶 (なまけもの, namakemono) Kazakh: жалқауаң (jalqauañ) Khmer: កម្ជិល (km) (kɑmcɨl) Korean: 나무늘보 (ko) (namuneulbo) Kyrgyz: ленивец (lenivets) Latvian: sliņķis m Lithuanian: tinginys (lt) m Macedonian: мрзливец m (mrzlivec) Malayalam: സ്ലോത്ത് (slōttŭ) Norwegian: Bokmål: dovendyr (no) n Nynorsk: dovendyr n Persian: تنبل‎ (fa) (tanbal) Polish: leniwiec (pl) m Portuguese: bicho-preguiça m, preguiça (pt) f Romanian: leneș (ro) m Russian: лени́вец (ru) m (lenívec) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: лењивац m, љењивац m, типавац m Roman: lenjivac (sh) m, ljenjivac (sh) m, tipavac m Slovak: leňoch m Slovene: lenivec (sl) m Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: gnilawa f Spanish: perezoso (es) m, (Venezuela) pereza (es) f Swahili: mwendapole, slothi Swedish: sengångare (sv) c Thai: สลอธ (sà-lɔ́t), สโลธ (sà-lôot) Turkish: tembel hayvan Ukrainian: ліни́вець m (linývecʹ) Uzbek: lenivets Vietnamese: lười (vi) Volapük: bradip (vo) Welsh: diogyn m

Verb

sloth (third-person singular simple present sloths, present participle slothing, simple past and past participle slothed)

1. (obsolete, intransitive, transitive) To be idle; to idle (away time).
   • 1676, John Bunyan, The Strait Gate, or, Great Difficulty of Going to Heaven, London: Francis Smith, p. 69,

     […] the most of professors are for imbezzeling, mispending and slothing away their time, their talents, their opportunities to do good in […]

   • 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, p. 2,

     That you endeavour carefully to please your Lady, Master or Mistress, be faithful, diligent and submissive to them, encline not to sloth or laze in bed, but rise early in a morning.

Further reading

• sloth in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• sloth in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

Anagrams

• Holts, Loths, holts, loths