Slenderness
/ˈslɛn.dɚ.nəs/noun
The quality of being thin, slight, or gracefully narrow.
Did you know?Slender shares its deepest ancestry with Old Norse words for “smooth” and “slippery,” showing how English once linked thinness with a sleek, almost enchanted surface.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*slei-
“to be smooth, slick, or slippery”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*slinthaz / *slindaz
“smooth, slim, slender”
Old English
OE
slen(d)er
“slender, thin, slight”
Middle English
ME
slender
“thin, small, delicate in build”
Modern English
English
slenderness
“the state or quality of being slender”