slattern
[slat-ern]
- a slovenly, untidy woman or girl.
- a slut; harlot.
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Origin of slattern
First recorded in 1630–40; perhaps akin to dial. slatter to splash, spill < ?
Word story
See slut.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for slattern
Historical Examples
It is true that Nanny was a slattern, but only because she married into slavery.
A Window in ThrumsJ. M. Barrie
From her I learned that because one is an actress it is not necessary to be a slattern.
Ten American Girls From HistoryKate Dickinson Sweetser
It was still early in the day and there was something of the slattern in her dragging gown.
Doom CastleNeil Munro
It seemed to her that they would mock her as the slattern had mocked her, should she appeal to them.
'Drag' HarlanCharles Alden Seltzer
I took a sort of hate against her, she was such a slattern and so inquisitive.
A Book of GhostsSabine Baring-Gould
slattern
- a slovenly woman or girl; slut
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Word Origin
C17: probably from slattering, from dialect slatter to slop; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse sletta to slap
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for slattern
n.
1630s, "a woman negligent or disordered in her dress or household," of uncertain origin, probably related to Low German Slattje, Dutch slodder, dialectal Swedish slata "slut" (in the older, non-sexual sense; cf. slut). Cf. dialectal English verb slatter "to spill or splash awkwardly, to waste," used of women or girls considered untidy or slovenly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper