"slender, lithe," 1817, from French svelte "slim, slender" (17c.), from Italian svelto "slim, slender," originally "pulled out, lengthened," past participle of svellere "to pluck or root out," from Vulgar Latin *exvellere, from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + vellere "to pluck, stretch," from PIE *wel-no-, suffixed form of *uelh- "to strike" (source also of Hittite ualh- "to hit, strike," Greek aliskomai "to be caught").
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