THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

slug'-ard: Found only in the Old Testament, and there only in Proverbs. It is the rendering given the word 'atsel everywhere in the Revised Version (British and American), but in the King James Version only in Pr 6:6,9; 10:26; 13:4; 20:4; 26:16 (elsewhere the King James Version translates by "slothful"). The root meaning of ['atsel] is "to be sluggish," "stupid." The English word "slug" is said to be "allied to slack" (Webster).