Slav
adjEtymology From Middle English Sclave, borrowed from Medieval Latin Sclavus, from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos); see that entry for more. Doublet of slave and ciao. Displaced native Old English Wined.
1
Synonym of Slavic.
- Arising out of her intercourse with the Slavs of the interior, Dubrovnik became a very Slav city, both in manners and in sympathy.1932, Oona H[oward] Ball, Dalmatia, London: Faber & Faber Limited, […], page 45:
- If black Persian is what you want, there’s a very Slav coat, full-length, with fuchsia wool lining and with pockets sticking out on either hip, and there’s a three-quarter affair with a small, rolled collar, a narrow tuxedo front bound with silk braid, and a full, loose back.1943, The New Yorker, page 48, column 2:
4 more examples
- She spoke French with a very Slav accent.1961, Darrell Bates, The Shell at My Ear, London: Rupert Hart-Davis, […], page 132:
- The young Jugoslav taxidriver who took us to the airport drove with a discontented and furious disdain. He took a very Slav view of the migration. He had gone out as a boy of 17 eight years before, and cared very little for it.1965, Peter Black, The Poms in the Sun, London: Michael Joseph Ltd, page 230:
- Obliged by my own question to face him if it were to appear as innocent as it actually was, I took in his features. It was not a very Slav face.1975, Sarah Gainham [pseudonym; Rachel Ames], To the Opera Ball, London: Macmillan London Limited, →ISBN, page 245:
- While the social system could thus be improved, [G. Stanley] Hall knew that heredity was more important. He argued that a pound of heredity was “worth a hundredweight of education.” It was necessary to pay attention to better breeding: “The nation that breeds best, be it Mongol, Slav, Teuton or Saxon, will rule the world in the future.”1986, Clarence J. Karier, Scientists of the Mind: Intellectual Founders of Modern Psychology, Urbana, Ill.; Chicago, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 183:
- Derived terms
- Slav Defence, Slav Defense, Slav squat