n. [ OE. slo, AS. slā; akin to D. slee, G. schlehe, OHG. slēha, Dan. slaaen, Sw. slån, perhaps originally, that which blunts the teeth, or sets them on edge (cf. Slow); cf. Lith. slywa a plum, Russ. sliva. ] (Bot.) A small, bitter, wild European plum, the fruit of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa); also, the tree itself. [ 1913 Webster ]