A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1456, 1597-1638
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Slut, Sluit, n. [Late ME and e.m.E. slutte (1402), slute (1483), slut (1573) a woman of dirty, etc. habits or low, etc. character. In the later dial. slute, sluit a slovenly, sluggish fellow (1790). Cf. Germ. dial. schlutt, Dan. slatte, Norw. slott.] A slovenly person, a person (? in later instances, specif. a woman) of low or disreputable character. Cf. Slutadj. and Slutv. — 1456 Hay II 63/7.
[A knight] suld be temperit … in etyng and drinking that he be nocht glutoun, na gormand, na slut, na slutheroun, na ȝit dronkynsum a1598 Ferg. Prov. MS No. 213.
A foul slut under ane blak hat seimes somquhat 1638 Bk. Pasquils 57.
From … Tinker, treulerd, slouene and sluit … deliuer us
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"Slut n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/slut_n>
