Slick comes from Middle English sliken ('to make smooth'), from Old English -slician, of Germanic origin; cognate with sleek. The historical chain includes Old English slician. Older glosses in the chain include "to make smooth", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, slick is best read as borrowing, yielding an English adjective and noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a adjective and noun, with the sense "smooth and slippery; also clever or glib". English derivatives include slickly, slickness, and slicker; related forms include sleek. The result is an English adjective and noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.