"sley" meaning in All languages combined

See sley on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /sleɪ/ Forms: sleys [plural]
Etymology: From Middle English slay, from Old English slege. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|slay}} Middle English slay, {{inh|en|ang|slege}} Old English slege Head templates: {{en-noun}} sley (plural sleys)
  1. Reed (of a loom).
    Sense id: en-sley-en-noun-NSH80RKL
  2. A guideway in a knitting machine.
    Sense id: en-sley-en-noun-pqpanbya Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 2 65 23 10 Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 5 52 20 10 7 6 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 6 55 21 10 6 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 58 20 8 9 2
  3. (weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth. Synonyms: sett [sometimes]
    Sense id: en-sley-en-noun-0spmsavO Categories (other): Weaving Topics: business, manufacturing, textiles, weaving

Verb [English]

IPA: /sleɪ/ Forms: sleys [present, singular, third-person], sleying [participle, present], sleyed [participle, past], sleyed [past], slay [alternative]
Etymology: From Middle English slay, from Old English slege. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|slay}} Middle English slay, {{inh|en|ang|slege}} Old English slege Head templates: {{en-verb}} sley (third-person singular simple present sleys, present participle sleying, simple past and past participle sleyed)
  1. (transitive, weaving) To separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed. Tags: transitive Synonyms: sleid [archaic] Related terms: sleave, sleid
    Sense id: en-sley-en-verb-~H-TnzVK Categories (other): Weaving Topics: business, manufacturing, textiles, weaving

Adjective [Middle English]

Head templates: {{head|enm|adjective|var=1}} sley
  1. alternative form of sly Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: sly
    Sense id: en-sley-enm-adj-ydmvJSpr
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Verb [Middle English]

Head templates: {{head|enm|verb|var=1}} sley
  1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of sleen Tags: Late-Middle-English, alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: sleen
    Sense id: en-sley-enm-verb-pzUwjaBk Categories (other): Late Middle English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "slay",
      "slay#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "slege",
      "slege#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "slay"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English slay",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "slege"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English slege",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sleys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sley (plural sleys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Reed (of a loom)."
      ],
      "id": "en-sley-en-noun-NSH80RKL",
      "links": [
        [
          "Reed",
          "reed"
        ],
        [
          "loom",
          "loom"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "2 65 23 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 52 20 10 7 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 55 21 10 6 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 58 20 8 9 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A guideway in a knitting machine."
      ],
      "id": "en-sley-en-noun-pqpanbya",
      "links": [
        [
          "guideway",
          "guideway"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weaving",
          "orig": "en:Weaving",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              472,
              476
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1903 December, “The Adjustment of Cotton Preparing and Spinning Machinery”, in Textile World, volume 26, number 3, page 125:",
          "text": "An extreme draft is not desirable in the spinning of filling yarns either on a frame or mule, although yarn from the latter machines is usually spun from coarser roving than would be possible on a filling frame, and it would seem preferable to spin same from roving with a medium draft, or, from double roving, and particularly so for fine sheetings, cambrics and other styles of cloth, that require finer filling than the warp and which have a higher count or pick, than sley.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth."
      ],
      "id": "en-sley-en-noun-0spmsavO",
      "links": [
        [
          "weaving",
          "weaving#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "warp",
          "warp"
        ],
        [
          "end",
          "end"
        ],
        [
          "inch",
          "inch"
        ],
        [
          "cloth",
          "cloth"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "sometimes"
          ],
          "word": "sett"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "manufacturing",
        "textiles",
        "weaving"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/sleɪ/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "sleigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "slay"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

{
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "slay",
      "slay#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "slege",
      "slege#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "slay"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English slay",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "slege"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English slege",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sleys",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sleying",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sleyed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sleyed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "slay",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sley (third-person singular simple present sleys, present participle sleying, simple past and past participle sleyed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weaving",
          "orig": "en:Weaving",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              43,
              47
            ],
            [
              121,
              125
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026, Shelby Moravec, “Flight of the Dragonflies Scarf”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 28:",
          "text": "Centering for a weaving width of 15 7/15\", sley 2 ends per dent in a 15-dent reed, or centering for a width of 15 5/10\", sley 3 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed."
      ],
      "id": "en-sley-en-verb-~H-TnzVK",
      "links": [
        [
          "weaving",
          "weaving#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "separate",
          "separate"
        ],
        [
          "thread",
          "thread"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, weaving) To separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "sleave"
        },
        {
          "word": "sleid"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "sleid"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "manufacturing",
        "textiles",
        "weaving"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/sleɪ/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "sleigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "slay"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

{
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "adjective",
        "var": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "sley",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "sly"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "alternative form of sly"
      ],
      "id": "en-sley-enm-adj-ydmvJSpr",
      "links": [
        [
          "sly",
          "sly#Middle_English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

{
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "verb",
        "var": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "sley",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "sleen"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Late Middle English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "alternative form of sleen"
      ],
      "id": "en-sley-enm-verb-pzUwjaBk",
      "links": [
        [
          "sleen",
          "sleen#Middle_English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Late Middle English) alternative form of sleen"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Late-Middle-English",
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "English verbs",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English variant lemmas",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "slay",
      "slay#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "slege",
      "slege#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "slay"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English slay",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "slege"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English slege",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sleys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sley (plural sleys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Reed (of a loom)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Reed",
          "reed"
        ],
        [
          "loom",
          "loom"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A guideway in a knitting machine."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "guideway",
          "guideway"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Weaving"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              472,
              476
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1903 December, “The Adjustment of Cotton Preparing and Spinning Machinery”, in Textile World, volume 26, number 3, page 125:",
          "text": "An extreme draft is not desirable in the spinning of filling yarns either on a frame or mule, although yarn from the latter machines is usually spun from coarser roving than would be possible on a filling frame, and it would seem preferable to spin same from roving with a medium draft, or, from double roving, and particularly so for fine sheetings, cambrics and other styles of cloth, that require finer filling than the warp and which have a higher count or pick, than sley.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "weaving",
          "weaving#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "warp",
          "warp"
        ],
        [
          "end",
          "end"
        ],
        [
          "inch",
          "inch"
        ],
        [
          "cloth",
          "cloth"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "sometimes"
          ],
          "word": "sett"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "manufacturing",
        "textiles",
        "weaving"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/sleɪ/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "sleigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "slay"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "English verbs",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English variant lemmas",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "slay",
      "slay#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "slege",
      "slege#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "slay"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English slay",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "slege"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English slege",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sleys",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sleying",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sleyed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sleyed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "slay",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sley (third-person singular simple present sleys, present participle sleying, simple past and past participle sleyed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "sleave"
    },
    {
      "word": "sleid"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "en:Weaving"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              43,
              47
            ],
            [
              121,
              125
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026, Shelby Moravec, “Flight of the Dragonflies Scarf”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 28:",
          "text": "Centering for a weaving width of 15 7/15\", sley 2 ends per dent in a 15-dent reed, or centering for a width of 15 5/10\", sley 3 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "weaving",
          "weaving#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "separate",
          "separate"
        ],
        [
          "thread",
          "thread"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, weaving) To separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "sleid"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "manufacturing",
        "textiles",
        "weaving"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/sleɪ/"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "sleigh"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "slay"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English variant lemmas",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "adjective",
        "var": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "sley",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "sly"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "alternative form of sly"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sly",
          "sly#Middle_English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English variant lemmas",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "verb",
        "var": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "sley",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "sleen"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "Late Middle English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "alternative form of sleen"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sleen",
          "sleen#Middle_English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Late Middle English) alternative form of sleen"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Late-Middle-English",
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sley"
}

Download raw JSONL data for sley meaning in All languages combined (5.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-10-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (1a05e46 and e3d6d4e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.