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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1724-1962

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SLOOM, n.1, v.1 Also sloum, slu(i)m; slom -. sloam. Deriv. ¶slummish. [slum; Kcd. , Uls. slom]

I. n. A dreamy or sleepy state, a reverie, day-dream, a light sleep, slumber, "an unsettled sleep" (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Kcd., Ags. 1970). Also in n.Eng. dial. Now only liter.Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 256:
Whyles when I'm in a quiet sloom.Sc. 1931 Modern Scot (April) 20:
Ay, here she lies, sae still in sloom.

II. v. 1. To sleep lightly, doze, slumber fitfully (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.). Hence sloomie, -y, adj.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 66:
Whiles slouming, whiles starting wi' her fright.Sc. 1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads I. 225:
I laid my haffet on Elfer Hill, Saft slooming clos'd my ee.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 124:
Th' unpillow'd crowds that lie Souffin' and sloomin' round.Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 54:
Sair tewed wi' wark, I laid me down And sloomed aneth the Roden Tree.

2. (1) To slip along easily and quietly, to glide smoothly, lit. and fig. (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 201); to slink, slither covertly, sneak (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl., sluim, Sh. 1970). Also in n.Eng. dial. Ppl.adjs. sloomin, sneaking, slinking; sulky, hang-dog (Ork. 1886 Jam.); sloomit, sullen, sly (Edm.). Comb. sloomie-heenksie, n., a taunting or jocular name for a person with an odd or unusual limping gait, a hobbledehoy, "dot and carry one". See also Henk.Dmf. 1874 R. Wanlock Moorland Rhymes 12:
I slum'd through the years o' my bairntime in glee.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (20 Aug.):
Yon hokken lipper o' a dug o' Arty's is begun to sloom aboot da door agen.Sh. 1898 W. F. Clark Northern Gleams 60:
"So, sloomie-heenksie," he says, "bassel du awa yonder for a start."Per. 1939 Sc. Educ. Jnl. (22 Sept.) 1035:
Nae sound as the water o' life slooms past.Per. 1962 Dundee Courier (4 Aug.) 6:
The tides that "sloom" upriver to Perth.

(2) In Sh. also used refl.:Sh. 1815 Shetland Advert. (6 Jan. 1862):
Dwyne dat kroopin, gin he didna sloom himsel aff.Sh. 1836 Gentleman's Mag. II. 590:
Kummin sloomin himm upp after mee.

†(3) In deriv. slummish, "to trifle away one's time" (Lnk. 1825 Jam.).

3. tr. and intr., of plants: (1) to make or become soft and flaccid as a result of frost, damp, or the like (Slk. 1825 Jam.); to (cause to) wilt and decay (Sc. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 169), to rot with damp or mildew. Also fig. to grow weak and feeble, in gen. Adj. slo(o)my, of corn or the like: not well filled out, having small, underdeveloped ears, unthriving, stunted (Gall. c.1780 Walker MSS.; Rxb. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 169); rotting with damp or mildew, putrefying (Sc. 1825 Jam.); of soil: mossy, water-logged, damp (Uls. 1953 Traynor, sloamy, sloumy).Sc. 1724 Treatise on Fallowing 30:
As if the Wheat had been sown first on the Fallow, not being apt to ly, or be slomy.Lth. 1765 A. Dickson Agriculture 440:
What is commonly called slooming, tho' naturally hard and stiff, becomes mellow, soft, and free, and obviously in a state of fermentation.Gall. 1784 A. Wight Present State Husbandry III. 89:
The second crop of oats sloomy, and the pickle not filled.e.Lth. 1794 G. Buchan-Hepburn Agric. E. Lth. 76:
The Scotch barley . . . is more apt to lodge and to sloom, than any of the other three.Sc. 1807 Farmer's Mag. (May) 203:
Unless the grain has been sloomed or mildewed.Bwk. 1809 R. Kerr Agric. Bwk. App. 26:
The grain produce became sloomy, or small, shrivelled, and ill filled.Slk. 1820 Hogg Tales (1874) 110:
Sic ane yirlich skrighe that my verie sennyns sloomyt.Abd. 1865 G. Macdonald Alec Forbes lxix.:
Sloomin' wi' verra fear.

(2) to show luxuriant and unnatural growth as a result of damage or unfavourable conditions, to go to leaf and stems as potatoes in strong and fertile ground (Uls. 1929). Also transf., of animals, in adj. slomie, flabby, soft-fleshed.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 428:
An ox is said to be slomie, when it has on a false appearance of flesh.Uls. 1875 N. & Q. (Ser. V.) III. 147:
'Sloam', applied to corn crops when the stalks are too luxuriant in growth.Uls. 1884 Cruck-a-Leaghan and Slieve Gallion Lays 74:
His heart full av hopes that in hellmint were sloamin?Uls. 1953 Traynor:
Potatoes too much manured, too green, are said to be sloamed.

[Of somewhat mixed orig. For I., cf. O.E. sluma, a slumber; for II. 1., id., and Mid.Eng. slumen, O. Dan. slumme, Mid. Du. slumen; the other v. usages are paralleled from Scand. as in Norw. dial. sluma, to slouch, loaf, to shoot up in long weak straw, of corn, sløyma, id., and Icel. sluma, to be downcast, of the eyes or spirits, all related words and cogn. with slumber, *slu- to be sleepy. The form sloam is irregular.]

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