# slite

> English word · Verb · IPA /slaɪt/

## Definitions
1. To slit; tear or rip up.
2. To wear away (clothes).

## Etymology
From Middle English sliten, from Old English slītan (“to slit, tear, rend, shiver, split, rend to pieces, cleave, divide”), from Proto-West Germanic *slītan, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *skleyd-, *(s)kelH- (“to cut, trim”).
Cognate with North Frisian slitten (“to clear, make void”), Dutch slijten (“to wear, waste, ravel out”), German schleißen (“to trim”), Swedish slita (“to rip, tear”). Doublet of slit. More at slice.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slite