szlachta

See also: Szlachta, szlachtą, and Szlachtą

English

Etymology

From Polish szlachta.

Noun

szlachta pl (plural only)

1. (historical) A legally privileged noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *slahtō

Old High German slahta

Middle High German slahte

Old Polish ślachta, ślechta

Polish szlachta

Inherited from Old Polish ślachta, ślechta, from Middle High German slahte, from Old High German slahta, from Proto-Germanic *slahtō. Compare German Geschlecht, Italian schiatta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʂlax.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -axta
• Syllabification: szlach‧ta
• Homophone: Szlachta

Noun

szlachta f

1. (collective, historical) nobility, gentry (noble or privileged social class)

Declension

Declension of szlachta

	singular
nominative	szlachta
genitive	szlachty
dative	szlachcie
accusative	szlachtę
instrumental	szlachtą
locative	szlachcie
vocative	szlachto

Derived terms

adjectives

• szlachecki
• szlachetny

nouns

• szlachcic
• szlachectwo

verbs

• szlachcać impf
• uszlachcać impf
• uszlachcić pf

Descendants

• → Lithuanian: šlėkta
• → Old East Slavic: шлѧхта (šlęxta)
  • Belarusian: шля́хта (šljáxta)
  • Russian: шля́хта (šljáxta)
  • Ukrainian: шля́хта (šljáxta)

References

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “шляхта”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Brückner, Aleksander (1927), “szlachta”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, page 550

Further reading

• “szlachta”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “szlachta”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *slahtō

Old High German slahta

Middle High German slahte

Old Polish ślachta, ślechta

Polish szlachtabor.

Portuguese szlachta

Borrowed from Polish szlachta.

Noun

szlachta f (uncountable)

1. Szlachta (the nobility of Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania)