Slav
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English sclave, a borrowing from Medieval Latin Sclavus, from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos), from earlier Σκλαβῆνος (Sklabênos), plural Σκλαβῆνοι (Sklabênoi), from Proto-Slavic *slověnji, *slověne (“those who speak meaningfully”), singular *slověninъ. Compare Old Church Slavonic словѣни, словѣнє (slověni, slověne, “Thessalonian Slavs”), Old East Slavic словѣне (slověne, “Slavs near Novgorod”).
Commonly thought to derive from Proto-Slavic *slovo (“word”), thus meaning "those who speak meaningfully" and contrasting with *němьcь (“foreigner”, literally “dumb/mute person”). However, that word is an s-stem and thus the inflectional stem of that word is *sloves-, so it cannot be the direct origin as it would lead to an expected form *slovesěni (compare Russian слове́сность (slovésnostʹ)). Thus the most likely origin is the verb *sluti (“to be known”).[1] Both words ultimately derive from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“fame”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /slɑːv/, /slæv/
- (Received Pronunciation, US) Rhymes: -ɑːv, -æv
Noun[edit]
Slav (plural Slavs)
- A member of any of the peoples from Eastern Europe who speak the Slavic languages.
- (Britain, birdwatching) The Slavonian grebe.
Translations[edit]
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Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ John P. Maher (Chicago), "The Etymology of Common Slavic slověne 'Slavs'", (in:) Balkansko Ezikoznanie XIV, 2, p. 31–36, Sofia 1970
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms borrowed from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Byzantine Greek
- English terms derived from Proto-Slavic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- en:Birdwatching
