An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Schlitten

by Friedrich Kluge

Schlitten, masculine, ‘sleigh, sledge,’ from the equivalent Middle High German slitte, usually slite, masculine, Old High German slita, feminine, slito, masculine; compare Dutch slede, Middle English slede, English sled, sledge, Old Icelandic sleðe, masculine, ‘sleigh.’ From High German is derived Italian slitta, ‘sleigh.’ The Teutonic cognates are based on a Teutonic root slī̆d, ‘to slide,’ which is preserved in the English verb and substantive slide; compare the equivalent Middle High German (Middle German) slîten, whence Modern High German (dialectic) schlittern, ‘to slide (on ice),’ Anglo-Saxon slîdan. Pre-Teutonic slī̆dh, ‘to slide,’ is also attested by Lithuanian slidus, ‘smooth’ (of ice), slýsti (root slyd), ‘to slide,’ Lettic slidas, ‘skates,’ and Sanscrit sridh, ‘to stumble’; the root seems to have been often used in primitively Teutonic times, and perhaps still earlier, for ‘to slide (on ice).’ —