Slab: A broad, flat, thick piece

  1) A SLAB of concrete
 
  2) A SLAB of bacon

  3) To wind up on a SLAB

   Though commonly derived from Middle English slabbe,
Dr. Ernst Klein rightfully suggests I believe, a Gaulish (Celtic) origin for this word and sites Breton scolp; Welsh ysgolp ‘splinter, chip’, Old Provencal escalpa, Old French escopel which are Gaulish loanwords.

     Whether the word came into English with the Norman French or was an early Anglo-Saxon borrowing from the Rhineland Celts is hard to tell.

     Yours Truly,
     Brian Costello
     Seattle, Wa.

Though commonly derived from Middle English slabbe,
Dr. Ernst Klein rightfully suggests I believe, a Gaulish (Celtic) origin for this word

i’m not contesting, but why, in your opinion, is the one more right than the other?  especially since the Gaulish words have a nearly opposite meaning from modern english "slab." (forgive the alone-standing subordinate clause).

david

Dear Smit100,

   Thanks for your reply. I realize it’s not an easy one to reply to. What Dr. Kein means is that this word has a Celtic origin rather than a Teutonic (Germanic) one. Many words in English starting with sl- in English have an Anglo-Saxon, Dutch, Low German or Scandinavian origin.  All of these would be Teutonic.
   Sincerely,
   Brian Costello
   Seattle, Wa.