Slav
/slɑːv
/noun
A member of a group of peoples in central and eastern Europe speaking Slavic languages.Greeks, Italians, Slavs, Turks and Russians all composed their own versions; they cannot possibly be reconciled....
- More headway was made among the Slavs of central Europe, aided by the relative ease of access and the penumbra of Carolingian power.
- The Russians are primarily eastern Slavs, but many also have a Finnish, Siberian, Turkish, or Baltic heritage.
adjective
another term for Slavic.The last three weeks have seen its fragile ethnic balance shaken, highlighting differences between the country's three-quarter Slav majority and its substantial Albanian minority....
- Albanian guerrillas with backing from Kosovo began operating in Macedonia earlier this year, bringing the majority Orthodox Slav country to the brink of civil war.
- They were forced to adopt Slav names and their religious and cultural rights were changed and this process became known as the Revival Process.
Derivatives
Slavist
- Professor Donskov is a leading Canadian Slavist in Russian literature and a world-renowned Tolstoy expert.
- She falls in love with him, moves in, and abandons him for a more serious scholar, a Swedish Slavist.
Origin
From medieval Latin Sclavus, late Greek Sklabos, later also from medieval Latin Slavus.