Slavic

American  

[slah-vik, slav-ik] / ˈslɑ vɪk, ˈslæv ɪk /

noun

1. a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, usually divided into East Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian, Byelorussian), West Slavic (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Sorbian), and South Slavic (Old Church Slavonic, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian). Slav, Slav.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Slavs or their languages.

Slavic British  

/ ˈslɑːvɪk /

noun

1. another word (esp US) for Slavonic

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Other Word Forms

• anti-Slavic adjective
• non-Slavic adjective
• pro-Slavic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Slavic

First recorded in 1805–15; Slav + -ic

Example Sentences

Mr. Morson is a professor of Slavic literature at Northwestern University.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Baker: When I was looking for a name, I literally looked at names from the Slavic region.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2024

Long bound to Russia by history, common Slavic roots and a shared Orthodox Christian faith, Bulgaria was once so loyal to the Kremlin it asked to be absorbed into the Soviet Union.

From New York Times • May 1, 2024

Women who came from the Slavic areas of the Ottoman Empire, which extended all the way into the Circassian mountains, in what is now Bulgaria, would be taken because of how they looked.

From Salon • Feb. 27, 2024

The town bustled with Italian, Polish, and Slavic immigrant families who raised flocks of ducks and geese on the river much as they had in the Old Country.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell