Slop comes from Middle English sloppe ('mud, slush, muddy place'), probably from Old English -sloppe (as in cū-sloppe 'cowslip', literally cow-dung), of Germanic origin. The historical chain includes Old English sloppe. Older glosses in the chain include "mud, slush, muddy place" and "cowslip", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, slop is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "spilled or unappetizing liquid food; to spill carelessly". English derivatives include sloppy and sloppiness; related forms include slip and slobber. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.