Added 9 October 2026
slug
/slʌɡ/ noun
In Latin: limax Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about slug at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A projectile that is fired from a gun.
- A unit of mass equal to the mass that accelerates at 1 foot/sec/sec when acted upon by a force of 1 pound; approximately 14.5939 kilograms.
- A counterfeit coin.
verb
Origin
Originally referred to a slow, lazy person, from Middle English slugge (“lazy person", also "sloth, slothfulness”), probably of either Old English or Old Norse origin; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sliǵ-ōn, from *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”) or otherwise from the root of Old Norse slókr (“lazy person, oaf”), whence Icelandic slókur (“laziness”). Compare Norn slug (“lazy, slothful, sluggish”), dialectal Norwegian slugg (“a large, heavy body”), sluggje (“heavy, slow person”), Danish slog (“rascal, rogue”). Compare also Dutch slak (“snail, slug”). Doublet of slotch. The sense of a hitchhiking commuter is from the sense of a counterfeit bus token.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)