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sallow

UK/ˈsæləʊ/US/ˈsæloʊ/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,769 of 15,258neutral

Sallow means yellowish and unhealthy in complexion. A sallow face, sallow skin, look sallow.

It is always unkind, because it names a colour and diagnoses at the same time. Jaundice, tiredness and bad light can all produce it. There is also a tree called a sallow, a kind of willow, which is a separate Old English word.

Definitions of sallow

  1. 1adjectivesallowYellowish and unhealthy in complexion.C1

    “After weeks indoors, his skin looked sallow and tired.”

sallow is a quality of complexion.

Where it comes from

Old English salu means dusky or dark yellow, from a Germanic colour root. The willow called a sallow is a different word.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *selH-

  2. Proto-Germanic

    *salwaz

  3. Proto-West Germanic

    *salu

  4. Old English

    salu

  5. Middle English

    salowe

  6. English, today

    sallow

From Middle English salowe, from Old English salu, from Proto-West Germanic salu, from Proto-Germanic salwaz, from Proto-Indo-European selH-. See also Dutch zaluw, dialectal German sal; also Irish salach (“dirty”), Welsh halog, Latin salīva, Russian соло́вый (“cream-colored”), and - through Frankish - French sale.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

sallow in the wild

  • Salix caprea, known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.

    Salix caprea

  • Salix cinerea (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willow, pussy willow, rusty sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.

    Salix cinerea

  • Furcula furcula, the sallow kitten, is a moth from the family Notodontidae.

    Furcula furcula

  • Pyrrhia umbra, the bordered sallow, is a moth of the family Noctuidae.

    Pyrrhia umbra

  • Tiliacea citrago, the orange sallow, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae.

    Tiliacea citrago

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.