A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1642-1653
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0]
Slack(ie, n. [SND suggests a connection with slack loose (Slak adj.), supporting the meaning offered by Jamieson of ‘sling’ (SND, s.v. Slack n.1 2). However the French words translated by Urquhart in the instances quoted below are brassier and tribard. Huguet suggests that brassier is ‘a sort of sling (fronde)’, however the Fr. original of slings and slackies is fondes et brassiers: fondes = slings; it is possible that brassier also = sling, however, Urquhart also translates tribard as slackie. Larousse, referring to this instance, gives the sense as a ‘large stick (gros bâton)'. The evidence, then, seems on the whole, including Urquhart's own gloss (see 2nd quot. below), to point to the sense being a stick or cudgel: the etymology, however, remains obscure.] — 1642 Dundonald Par. Rec. 503.
That he had sclandered him in saying that he stall ane duik from him and drew his slack 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i xxv.
The other shepherds and shepherdesses came with their slings and slackies [F. fondes et brassiers] 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i xxxii.
He … found … that Marquet's head was broken with a slackie [F. tribard] or short cudgel
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Slack n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/slackie>
