sloth

See also: slóð

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

sloth

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• sleuth (obsolete except for a group of bears)
• sloath, slowth (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English slouthe, slewthe (“laziness”), from Old English slǣwþ (“sloth, indolence, laziness, inertness, torpor”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiwiþu, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwiþō (“slowness, lateness”), equivalent to slow +‎ -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots sleuth (“sloth, slowness”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sləʊθ/, /slɒθ/

  • Audio (UK):

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  • Audio (UK):

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /slɔθ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /slɑθ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /slɒθ/
• Rhymes: -əʊθ, -ɒθ

Noun

sloth (countable and uncountable, plural sloths)

1. (uncountable) Laziness; slowness in the mindset; disinclination to action or labour.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 787–792:

     Who having ſpilt much blood, and don much waſte / Subduing Nations, and achievd thereby / Fame in the World, high titles, and rich prey, / Shall change thir courſe to pleaſure, eaſe, and ſloth, / Surfet, and luſt, till wantonneſs and pride / Raiſe out of friendſhip hoſtil deeds in Peace.

   • 1758, Benjamin Franklin, Preliminary Address to the Pennsylvania Almanac:

     Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears.

   • 1953 April, “Arrears of Station Maintenance”, in Railway Magazine, page 217:

     Mr. Elliot's frank statement that "sloth and untidiness are indefensible" is a sign that the task will be tackled with vigour.

2. (countable) Any animal in the suborder Folivora.
   1. (especially) Any herbivorous, arboreal South American mammal of the families Choloepodidae and Bradypodidae, noted for its slowness and inactivity.
   2. (paleontology) Any of the extinct group of ground sloths.
3. (collective, rare, countable) A group of bears.

Usage notes

• Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.

Synonyms

• (animal): tardigrade (obsolete)

Antonyms

• diligence

Hyponyms

• (animal): two-toed sloth, three-toed sloth, Australian sloth, ground sloth, pale-throated sloth

Derived terms

• forsloth
• ground sloth
• native sloth
• sloth animalcule
• sloth bear
• slothen
• slothful
• sloth monkey
• tree sloth

Related terms

• slowth

Translations

laziness

Afrikaans: luiheid Albanian: përtesë (sq) f Arabic: كَسَل m (kasal) Armenian: ծուլություն (hy) (culutʻyun) Assamese: এলাহ (elah) Azerbaijani: tənbəllik (az) Basque: nagitasun Belarusian: ляно́та f (ljanóta) Bengali: আলস্য (bn) (alosśo) Bulgarian: мъ́рзел (bg) m (mǎ́rzel) Burmese: ပျင်းရိခြင်း (pyang:ri.hkrang:) Catalan: accídia (ca) f, peresa (ca) f, mandra (ca) f Cebuano: katapol Chichewa: ulesi Chinese: Mandarin: 懶惰 / 懒惰 (zh) (lǎnduò) Czech: lenost (cs) f Danish: dovenskab (da) c Dutch: luiheid (nl) f, traagheid (nl) f Esperanto: pigreco Estonian: laiskus Farefare: akedia (sin of acedia) Faroese: dølskni n, leti f Finnish: laiskuus (fi) French: paresse (fr) f Galician: nugalla (gl) f, preguiza (gl) f, lacazanería f, doca (gl) f, galbana (gl) f Georgian: უქნარობა (uknaroba), სიზარმაცე (sizarmace) German: Trägheit (de) f, Faulheit (de) f, Müßiggang (de) m Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹 f (latei) Greek: νωθρότητα (el) f (nothrótita), τεμπελιά (el) f (tempeliá) Gujarati: આળસ m (āḷsa) Haitian Creole: parès Hausa: lalaci, ragwanci Hebrew: עצלות f (‘atzlút), עצלנות f (‘atzlanút) Hindi: आलस्य (hi) m (ālasya) Hmong Dô: kev ua tub nkeeg Hungarian: lustaság (hu), tunyaság (hu), restség (hu), henyeség (hu) Icelandic: leti f, ómennska f, dugleysi n, dáðleysi n Ido: ociereso (io) Igbo: arafo, agara Indonesian: kemalasan (id) Irish: leisce m, aimhleisce f, búistíocht f Italian: pigrizia (it) f, (deadly sin) accidia (it) f Japanese: 怠惰 (ja) (たいだ, taida) Javanese: kesed (jv) Kalmyk: удан (udan) Kannada: ಸೋಮಾರಿತನ (kn) (sōmāritana) Kazakh: жалқаулық (jalqaulyq) Korean: 게으름 (ko) (geeureum) Lao: ຄວາມຂີ້ຄ້ານ (khuām khī khān) Latin: pigritia f Latvian: slinkums m Lithuanian: tinginystė m Macedonian: мрзеливост f (mrzelivost) Malagasy: hakamoana Malay: kemalasan, sifat malas Malayalam: മടി (ml) (maṭi) Maltese: għażż m Maori: māngeretanga Marathi: आळस m (āḷas) Mongolian: залхуурал (mn) (zalxuural) Nepali: आलस्य (ne) (ālasya) Norwegian: latskap m, lediggang m Occitan: pigresa (oc) f, peresa f Ottoman Turkish: تنبللك (tembellik), هایلازلق (haylazlık), كسل (kesel) Persian: تنبلی (fa) (tanbali) Polish: lenistwo (pl) n Portuguese: preguiça (pt) f Punjabi: ਆਲਸ (pa) (ālas) Romanian: lene (ro) f Russian: лень (ru) f (lenʹ), (deadly sin) ле́ность (ru) f (lénostʹ) Scottish Gaelic: a' corra-leisg f, seothaiche m, leisge f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: лењост f, лијеност f Roman: lenjost (sh) m, lijenost (sh) m Sinhalese: කම්මැලිකම නිසා (kammælikama nisā) Slovak: lenivosť f Slovene: lenoba (sl) f Somali: caajisnimo Sotho: botsoa Spanish: pereza (es) f Sranan Tongo: lesi Sundanese: hoream Swahili: uvivu (sw) class u/zi Swedish: lättja (sv) c, lathet (sv) c Tagalog: katamaran Tajik: танбалӣ (tanbali) Tamil: சோம்பல் (ta) (cōmpal) Telugu: సోమరితనం (sōmaritanaṁ) Thai: ความเกียจคร้าน (th) (kwaam-gìiat-kráan) Tocharian B: ālasäññe Turkish: tembellik (tr), miskinlik (tr), uyuşukluk (tr), meskenet (tr) Ukrainian: лінь f (linʹ), ле́дарство n (lédarstvo), лі́нощі f pl (línošči) Urdu: آلسی (ur) m (ālasya) Uzbek: dangasalik (uz), ishyoqmaslik (uz) Vietnamese: lười (vi) Volapük: trög (vo) Welsh: diogi m Yiddish: פֿוילקײַט f (foylkayt) Yoruba: imẹlẹ Zulu: ubuvila

mammal

Afrikaans: luiaard (af), luidier (af) Arabic: كَسْلَان m (kaslān) Armenian: համրուկ (hy) (hamruk), համրագնաց (hy) (hamragnacʻ) Assamese: শ্লথ (sloth) Azerbaijani: ərincək Basque: nagi Belarusian: ляні́вец m (ljanívjec) Bengali: স্লথ (sloth) Bulgarian: лени́вец (bg) m (lenívec) Burmese: ဆလောက်ကောင် (hca.laukkaung) Catalan: peresós (ca) m Cherokee: ᎤᏍᎦᏃᎵ ᏲᎾᎢᏳᏍᏗ (usganoli yonaiyusdi), ᎤᏂᏍᎦᏃᎵ ᏲᎾᎢᏳᏍᏗ (unisganoli yonaiyusdi) Chinese: Cantonese: 樹懶 / 树懒 (syu6 laan5) Mandarin: 樹懶 / 树懒 (zh) (shùlǎn) Czech: lenochod (cs) m Danish: dovendyr n Dutch: luiaard (nl) m Esperanto: bradipo Estonian: laiskloom Farefare: folivora Faroese: letidýr n Finnish: laiskiainen (fi) French: paresseux (fr) m, aï (fr) m Georgian: ზარმაცა (zarmaca) German: Faultier (de) n Greek: βραδύπους (el) m (vradýpous) Hebrew: עַצְלָן (he) m (atslán) Hindi: स्‍लॉथ (s‍lŏth) Hungarian: lajhár (hu) Icelandic: letidýr n Ido: bradipo (io) Indonesian: kukang (id), kungkang (id) Irish: spadán m Italian: bradipo (it) m Japanese: ナマケモノ (ja) (namakemono), 樹懶 (ja) (なまけもの, namakemono) Kashubian: zgniłozwiérz m Kazakh: жалқауаң (jalqauañ) Khmer: កម្ជិល (km) (kɑmcɨl) Korean: 나무늘보 (ko) (namuneulbo) Kyrgyz: ленивец (lenivets) Latvian: sliņķis m Lingala: ebela Lithuanian: tinginys (lt) m Lokono: hau Macedonian: мрзливец m (mrzlivec) Malayalam: സ്ലോത്ത് (slōttŭ) Norwegian: Bokmål: dovendyr (no) n Nynorsk: dovendyr n Paraguayan Guarani: (please verify) a'i Persian: تنبل (fa) (tanbal) Polish: leniwiec (pl) m Portuguese: bicho-preguiça m, preguiça (pt) f, aí (pt), aígue, unau (Brazil) Romanian: leneș (ro) m Russian: лени́вец (ru) m (lenívec) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: лењивац m, љењивац m, типавац m Roman: lenjivac (sh) m, ljenjivac (sh) m, tipavac m Slovak: leňoch m Slovene: lenivec (sl) m Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: gnilawa f Spanish: perezoso (es) m, (Venezuela) pereza (es) f, cúcula f (Costa Rica), caimansote (Ecuador), calípedes m, cúcala f (Central America) Sranan Tongo: loiri Swahili: mwendapole, slothi Swedish: sengångare (sv) c Thai: สลอธ (sà-lɔ́t), สโลธ (sà-lôot) Turkish: tembel hayvan Ukrainian: ліни́вець m (linývecʹ) Uzbek: lenivets Vietnamese: lười (vi) Volapük: bradip (vo) Welsh: diogyn m

Verb

sloth (third-person singular simple present sloths, present participle slothing, simple past and past participle slothed)

1. (obsolete, intransitive, transitive) To be idle; to idle (away time).
   • 1676, John Bunyan, The Strait Gate, or, Great Difficulty of Going to Heaven‎, London: Francis Smith, page 69:

     […] the most of professors are for imbezzeling, mispending and slothing away their time, their talents, their opportunities to do good in […]

   • 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid‎, London: T. Passinger, page 2:

     That you endeavour carefully to please your Lady, Master or Mistress, be faithful, diligent and submissive to them, encline not to sloth or laze in bed, but rise early in a morning.

Further reading

• “sloth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sloth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Holts, Loths, holts, loths