sleigh

(slā)

noun intransitive verb sleighed, sleigh·ing, sleighs

Related Forms:

• sleighˈer noun

Our Living Language Sleigh is a familiar word in American English, having entered the language from Dutch by 1700. The Dutch were among the earliest colonists in North America, and it is thus no surprise that some very common words come from their language. Boss, bush, and landscape are all originally Dutch words that became established in English by the end of the 17th century. In the succeeding centuries we got such words as dope, knickerbocker, snoop, spook, waffle, and cookie. Even a term practically synonymous with American, namely Yankee, was in all probability originally a Dutch word for a Dutch pirate. See Note at Yankee.