slay C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes US /sleɪ/ UK /sleɪ/ See IPA manual Homophones sleigh /sleɪ/ Meanings 1 verb to kill violently, especially in great numbers The hero set out to slay the dragon terrorizing the village. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to kill violently,... killmurderslaughtermassacredispatchdestroy ↔ Opposites spareresurrectrevive Word family Derived forms slayerslaying Related forms slaughtersleight Etymology AI details From Old English slean ('to strike, slay'), from Proto-Germanic *slahaną ('to strike'), of disputed further origin. slean Old English *slahaną Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # slay **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /sleɪ/ **IPA (UK):** /sleɪ/ ## Meanings 1. to kill violently, especially in great numbers ## Examples - The hero set out to slay the dragon terrorizing the village. ## Synonyms - kill - murder - slaughter - massacre - dispatch - destroy ## Antonyms - spare - resurrect - revive ## Derived Forms - slayer - slaying ## Related Forms - slaughter - sleight ## Roots and Affixes - Root: slean - Root: *slahaną ## Etymology From Old English slean ('to strike, slay'), from Proto-Germanic *slahaną ('to strike'), of disputed further origin. ## AI Etymology Slay comes from Old English slean ('to strike, slay'), from Proto-Germanic *slahaną ('to strike'), of disputed further origin. The historical chain includes Old English slean and Proto-Germanic *slahaną. Older glosses in the chain include "to strike, slay" and "to strike", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, slay is best read as borrowing, yielding an English verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb, with the sense "to kill violently, especially in great numbers". English derivatives include slayer and slaying; related forms include slaughter and sleight. The result is an English verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning. ## Topics - Actions & Processes - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown