Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SLOTH, n. [Sax. slæwth, from slaw, slow. See Slow.]

1. Slowness; tardiness. I abhor / This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome. – Shak.
2. Disinclination to action or labor; sluggishness; laziness; idleness. They change their course to pleasure, ease and sloth. – Milton. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears. – Franklin.
3. The popular name of a genus of tardigrade edentate mammals, – a genus which comprises only two species, viz. Bradypus tridactylus or Ai, about the size of a common cat, and Bradypus didactylus or Unan, about half the size of the former, both of South America. These animals are so called from the remarkable slowness of their motions. It is said that their greatest speed seldom exceeds three yards an hour. They feed on vegetables.