Slav
pronunciation
How to pronounce Slav in British English:
UK [slɑ:v]
How to pronounce Slav in American English:
US [slɑv]
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- Noun:
- any member of the people of eastern Europe or Asian Russia who speak a Slavonic language
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- Adjective:
- speaking a Slavic language
Word Origin
- Slav (n.)
- late 14c., Sclave, from Medieval Latin Sclavus (c.800), from Byzantine Greek Sklabos (c.580), from Old Church Slavonic Sloveninu "a Slav," probably related to slovo "word, speech," which suggests the name originally identified a member of a speech community (compare Old Church Slavonic Nemici "Germans," related to nemu "dumb;" and Old English þeode, which meant both "race" and "language"). Identical with the -slav in personal names (such as Russian Miroslav, literally "peaceful fame;" Mstislav "vengeful fame;" Jaroslav "famed for fury;" Czech Bohuslav "God's glory;" and see Wenceslas). Spelled Slave c. 1788-1866, influenced by French and German Slave. As an adjective from 1876.
Example
- 1. Romania is a latin island in the slav sea .
- 2. The tsar , it is stated , has proclaimed russia 's " inflexible resolve to support the interests of her slav brothers " .
- 3. Her husband is a slav .
- 4. Can be as tricky as that of a distressed slav .
- 5. In the 1990s they hired hordes of high-cheeked slav teenagers .