different between slight vs thin

English

Etymology

From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sl?t, IPA^(key): /sla?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): [sl?l?????]
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophone: sleight

Adjective

slight (comparative slighter, superlative slightest)

1. Small
   1. gentle or weak, not aggressive or powerful

   2. not thorough; superficial

   3. trifling; unimportant; insignificant
      • 1741, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education & of the Conduct of the Understanding

        Some firmly embrace doctrines upon slight grounds.

   4. (archaic or rare) not far away in space or time

   Synonyms: ignorable, meaningless, negligible, tiny; see also Thesaurus:tiny, Thesaurus:insignificant

2. of slender build
   • 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak

     his own figure, which was formerly so slight

   Synonyms: lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender

3. (regional) Even, smooth or level

   Synonyms: flat, glassy, slick; see also Thesaurus:smooth

4. (especially said of the sea) still; with little or no movement on the surface

5. (obsolete) Foolish; silly; not intellectual.

   Synonyms: daft, fatuous, soft in the head; see also Thesaurus:foolish

6. (regional, obsolete) Bad, of poor quality.
   • 1889 (first published), George Washington, Writings

     we frequently have slight Goods and sometimes old and unsaleable Articles

   Synonyms: flimsy, lousy, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality

7. (dated) Slighting; treating with disdain.

   Synonyms: contemptuous, disdainful, scornful; see also Thesaurus:disdainful

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slight (third-person singular simple present slights, present participle slighting, simple past and past participle slighted)

1. (transitive) To treat as unimportant or not worthy of attention; to make light of.
   • 1782, William Cowper, Truth

     the wretch who slights the bounty of the skies

2. (transitive) To give lesser weight or importance to.
   • 1915, Josephine Turck Baker, Correct English (volumes 16-17, page 182)

     Incontiguously (accent on tig; the rest of the syllables slighted) means in an incontiguous manner.

   Synonym: belittle

   Antonyms: respect, value, esteem

3. (transitive) To treat with disdain or neglect, usually out of prejudice, hatred, or jealousy; to ignore disrespectfully.
   • 1833, Mary Shelley, The Mortal Immortal

     Though true of heart, she was somewhat of a coquette in manner; and I was jealous as a Turk. She slighted me in a thousand ways, yet would never acknowledge herself to be in the wrong. She would drive me mad with anger, and then force me to beg her pardon.

   Synonyms: contemn, despise

   Antonyms: respect, honor

4. (intransitive) To act negligently or carelessly. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. (transitive, military, of a fortification) To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition.
6. (transitive) To make even or level.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hexham to this entry?)

7. (transitive) To throw heedlessly.

Derived terms

• slightingly

Translations

Noun

slight (plural slights)

1. The act of slighting; a deliberate act of neglect or discourtesy.

   Synonyms: ignoring, neglect, belittlement

   Antonym: respect

   • 1793, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

     Never use a slighting expression to her, even in jest; for slights in jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to end in angry earnest.
2. (obsolete) Sleight.

   • For till that stownd could never wight him harme,
     By subtilty, nor slight, nor might, nor mighty charme.

Derived terms

• put a slight upon

Translations

Further reading

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• The Middle English Dictionary

Anagrams

• lights

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English sliht, from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz.

Alternative forms

• sli?t, slei?te, sle?t, slyght, sleght, sleight, sly?t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slixt/, /sl?xt/
• Rhymes: -ixt

Adjective

slight

1. Level, even, smooth; having no bumps or lumps.
2. (rare) Of little importance or relevance.
3. (rare) Slim, narrow, skinny; of little breadth.
4. (rare) Badly made, poorly-built, or low-quality.

Descendants

• English: slight
• Scots: slicht
• Yola: sleight

References

• “slight, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-12.

Etymology 2

Noun

slight

1. Alternative form of sleight

Adjective

slight

1. Alternative form of sleight

English

Etymology

From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunn?, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjan? (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh?us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”).

Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Sanskrit ??? (tanú, “thin”), Persian ???? (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???n/
• Rhymes: -?n
• Homophones: tin (with th-stopping), fin (with th-fronting)

Adjective

thin (comparative thinner, superlative thinnest)

1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.

   • Out of spite, the human beings pretended not to believe that it was Snowball who had destroyed the windmill: they said that it had fallen down because the walls were too thin.

2. Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.

3. Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.

   thin person

4. Of low viscosity or low specific gravity.

   Water is thinner than honey.

5. Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space.

   The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.

   • Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.

6. (golf) Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
7. Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full.

   • thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams

8. Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.

   a thin disguise

9. (aviation) Of a route: relatively little used.
   • 2016, Hartmut Wolf, ?Peter Forsyth, ?David Gillen, Liberalization in Aviation (page 105)

     In short, we previously found that thin routes benefit from an increase in competition in the Spanish airline market when considering routes that were monopoly routes in 2001.

10. Poor; scanty; without money or success.
    • 1945, Jack Henry, What Price Crime? (page 92)

      Like their friends the "draggers," the "hoisters" or shoplifters are having a thin time these days, […]

Synonyms

• (having little thickness from one surface to its opposite): narrow; see also Thesaurus:narrow
• (very narrow in all diameters): fine
• (having little body fat or flesh): reedy, skinny, slender, slim, svelte, waifish; see also Thesaurus:slender or Thesaurus:scrawny
• (of low viscosity): runny, watery; see also Thesaurus:runny
• (not close or crowded): spaced out, sparse; see also Thesaurus:diffuse
• (not numerous): scant, scarce, slight

Antonyms

• thick

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

thin (plural thins)

1. (philately) A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.
2. Any food produced or served in thin slices.

   chocolate mint thins

   potato thins

Translations

Verb

thin (third-person singular simple present thins, present participle thinning, simple past and past participle thinned)

1. (transitive) To make thin or thinner.
2. (intransitive) To become thin or thinner.

   The crowds thinned after the procession had passed: there was nothing more to see.

3. To dilute.
4. To remove some plants or parts of plants in order to improve the growth of what remains.

Derived terms

• thin out

Translations

Adverb

thin (comparative more thin, superlative most thin)

1. Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.

   seed sown thin

   • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain

     Spain is a nation thin sown of people.

Further reading

• thin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• thin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• thin at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Nith, hint

Middle English

Etymology 1

Determiner

thin (subjective pronoun þou)

1. Alternative form of þin (“thy”)

Pronoun

thin (subjective þou)

1. Alternative form of þin (“thine”)

Etymology 2

Adjective

thin

1. Alternative form of thinne (“thin”)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *þ?n.

Determiner

th?n

1. thy, your (singular)
2. thine, yours

Inflection

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: dijn
  • Dutch: dijn
  • Limburgish: dien

Further reading

• “th?n”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old High German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ði?n/

Determiner

th?n

1. Alternative form of din

References

1. Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer, Second Edition

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *þ?n.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i?n/
• (late Old Saxon) IPA^(key): [ði?n]

Determiner

th?n

1. thy, your (singular)
2. thine, yours

Declension

See also

References

1. Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, (5. Auflage) 2014
2. Altsächsisches Elementarbuch by Dr. F. Holthausen

Etymology 2

See here.

Determiner

thin

1. instrumental singular masculine/neuter of th?

Welsh

Noun

thin

1. Aspirate mutation of tin.

Mutation