Σκλάβος
/ˈskla.vos/noun
A slave or enslaved person in Modern Greek.
Did you know?Greek σκλάβος, like English “slave,” developed from the medieval Latin term sclavus, associated with Slavic captives taken and sold during the medieval period.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Slavic period
Proto-Slavic
Slověninъ
“A member of the Slavic peoples; the original meaning is uncertain, though it was an ethnonym.”
Early Medieval period
Greek
Σκλαβῆνος (Sklabēnos)
“A Slav or Slavic person, corresponding to the ethnonym used for Slavic peoples.”
7th–9th Century
Medieval Greek
σκλάβος (sklábos)
“A Slav; the word began developing a secondary association with a captive or enslaved person.”
9th–12th Century
Medieval Latin
sclavus
“A slave, a semantic development associated with the enslavement and trafficking of Slavic captives.”
12th–14th Century
Old French
esclave
“A slave; borrowed from Medieval Latin sclavus.”
Modern Greek
Greek
σκλάβος
“A slave or enslaved person; the modern Greek continuation of the medieval term.”