- slipper
- type of footwear, 1478, from slip (v.), the notion being of a shoe that is "slipped" onto the foot.
- glass
- O.E. glæs, from W.Gmc. *glasam (cf. M.Du. glas, Ger. Glas), from P.Gmc. base *gla-/*gle-, from PIE *gel-/*ghel- "to shine, glitter, be green or yellow," a color word that is the root of words for grey, blue, green, and yellow (cf. O.E. glær "amber," L. glaesum "amber," O.Ir. glass "green, blue, gray," Welsh glas "blue"). Sense of "drinking glass" is early 13c.; glasses for "spectacles" is 1660s. The glass slipper in "Cinderella" is probably an error by Charles Perrault, translating in 1697, mistaking O.Fr. voir "ermine, fur" for verre "glass." In other versions of the tale it is a fur slipper. Glass ceiling first recorded 1990.
- mule (2)
- "loose slipper," 1560s, from M.Fr., from L. mulleus calceus "red high-soled shoe," worn by Roman patricians, from mullus "red" (see mullet). Related: Mules.
- ciabatta
- type of Italian bread, c.1990, from It. ciabatta, lit. "carpet slipper," so called for its shape; from the same source that produced Fr. sabot, Sp. zapata (see sabotage).
- sock (n.)
- O.E. socc "light slipper," a W.Gmc. borrowing from L. soccus "light low-heeled shoe," variant of Gk. sykchos "a kind of shoe," perhaps from Phrygian or another Asiatic language. The verb meaning "to stash (money) away as savings" is attested from 1942, Amer.Eng., from the notion of hiding one's money in a sock. To knock the socks off (someone) "beat thoroughly" is recorded from 1845, Amer.Eng. colloquial. Teen slang sock hop is c.1950, from notion of dancing without shoes.