sallow

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsæloʊ/ UK /ˈsæləʊ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like shallow /s/ vs /ʃ/

verb adj Freq #67261

Meanings

1

verb
cause to become a sickly pale color

The illness has sallowed my face.
2

adj
a tan colour, associated with people from southern Europe or East Asia

My skin is sallow.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

pallid sickly pasty waxen

Word family

Forms sallowersallowestsallownesssallows

Derived forms sallowfacedsallowishsallowlysallownesssallowysally

Etymology

From Middle English salow, salwe, from Old English sealh, from Proto-West Germanic *salh, from Proto-Germanic *salhaz, masculine variant of *salhō, *salhijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂lk-, *sh₂lik-. See also Low German Sal, Saal; Swedish sälg; also Welsh helyg, Latin salix (and also a doublet of the thence derived English borrowing salix) probably originally a borrowing from some other language.

salow Middle English sealh Old English *salh Proto-West Germanic *salhaz Proto-Germanic *sh₂lk- Proto-Indo-European

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Topics

Describing Qualities Art & Music

# sallow

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** verb, adj
**IPA (US):** ˈsæloʊ
**IPA (UK):** ˈsæləʊ
**Frequency rank:** 67261

## Meanings
1. cause to become a sickly pale color
2. a tan colour, associated with people from southern Europe or East Asia

## Examples
- The illness has sallowed my face.
- My skin is sallow.

## Synonyms
- pallid
- sickly
- pasty
- waxen

## Derived Forms
- sallowfaced
- sallowish
- sallowly
- sallowness
- sallowy
- sally

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: salow
- Root: sealh
- Root: *salh
- Root: *salhaz
- Root: *sh₂lk-

## Etymology
From Middle English salow, salwe, from Old English sealh, from Proto-West Germanic *salh, from Proto-Germanic *salhaz, masculine variant of *salhō, *salhijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂lk-, *sh₂lik-. See also Low German Sal, Saal; Swedish sälg; also Welsh helyg, Latin salix (and also a doublet of the thence derived English borrowing salix) probably originally a borrowing from some other language.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Art & Music

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sallow

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