Slavonic
/sləˈvɒnɪk/noun
Relating to the Slavs or to the Slavic languages and peoples.
Did you know?The name behind Slavonic comes from the ethnonym Slavs, whose deeper origin is uncertain, but it has long been linked in scholarship to a root meaning “word” or “speech,” making language itself part of the identity story.
Etymological Timeline
Modern English
English
Slavonic
“Relating to the Slavs or their languages.”
19th Century
English
Slavonic
“A learned adjective formed from Slav + -onic, used for Slavic peoples, languages, or culture.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
Sclavonicus
“Pertaining to the Slavs.”
Byzantine Greek
Greek
Sklabēnos / Sklabēnoi
“A name for Slavic peoples.”
Early Slavic / Proto-Slavic
PSlav
Slověninъ
“A Slavic person; the ethnonym behind later forms.”