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slug²

(slŭg)

1. Any of various terrestrial gastropod mollusks having a slow-moving slimy elongated body with no shell or with a flat rudimentary shell on or under the skin, usually found in moist habitats.

2. A sea slug.

3. The smooth soft larva of certain insects, such as the sawfly.

4. A slimy mass of aggregated amoeboid cells that develops into the spore-bearing fruiting body of a cellular slime mold.

5. Informal A sluggard.

[Middle English slugge, sluggard, probably of Scandinavian origin.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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