Slav

[slahv, slav]

noun

one of a group of peoples in eastern, southeastern, and central Europe, including the Russians and Ruthenians (Eastern Slavs), the Bulgars, Serbs, Croats, Slavonians, Slovenes, etc. (Southern Slavs), and the Poles, Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks, etc. (Western Slavs).

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of the Slavs; Slavic.

Origin of Slav

1350–1400; < Medieval Latin Slāvus, variant of Sclāvus, akin to Late Greek Sklábos < a Slavic ethnonym, perhaps originally a name for all Slavic tribes (cf. Slovak, Slovene, Old Russian Slověně an East Slavic tribe); replacing Middle English Sclave < Medieval Latin Sclāvus

Slav.

or Slav

abbreviation

Slavic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for slav

In common with the Slav languages it has a sixth vowel, viz.
The Land of the Black Mountain|Reginald Wyon
I suppose there's enough of the Slav in me, from my mother, to make me feel like that, too.
The Boy Scouts In Russia|John Blaine
The fight had been sharp and fierce; already he was beginning to rejoice that the Puritan had conquered the Slav.
The Dominant Strain|Anna Chapin Ray
The Slav wife in this country bears from two to two and a half times as fast as the wife of American parentage.
The Old World in the New|Edward Alsworth Ross

This is why, when a labor force has come to be mostly Slav, it will soon be all Slav.
The Old World in the New|Edward Alsworth Ross

British Dictionary definitions for slav

Slav

noun

a member of any of the peoples of E Europe or NW Asia who speak a Slavonic language

Word Origin for Slav

C14: from Medieval Latin Sclāvus a captive Slav; see slave

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for slav

Slav

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 (cf. Old Church Slavonic Nemici "Germans," related to nemu "dumb;" and cf. Old English þeode, which meant both "race" and "language").

Identical with the -slav in personal names (e.g. Russian Miroslav, literally "peaceful fame;" Mstislav "vengeful fame;" Jaroslav "famed for fury;" Czech Bohuslav "God's glory;" and cf. Wenceslas). Spelled Slave c.1788-1866, influenced by French and German Slave. As an adjective from 1876.