Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Slay

Slay , transitive verb

[Old English slan, sl{not transcribed}n, sleen, slee, Anglo-Saxon sleán to strike, beat, slay; akin to OFries. slā, Dutch slaan, Old Saxon & Old High German slahan, German schlagen, Icelandic slā, Danish slaae, Swedish sl{not transcribed}, Gothic slahan; perhaps akin to Latin lacerare to tear to pieces, Greek {not transcribed}, English lacerate. Compare Slaughter, Sledge a hammer, Sley.]

To put to death with a weapon, or by violence; hence, to kill; to put an end to; to destroy.
With this sword then will I slay you both. — Chaucer
I will slay the last of them with the sword. — Amos ix. 1
I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk. — Shakespeare