Header image of wall of bricks with affixes

Slavo-

Slavs; Slavonic languages in relation to others.

Medieval Latin Sclavus.

This form is uncommon. An example is Slavophile, someone favourable or friendly to Slavs. Hyphenated examples usually refer to the Slavonic language group in connection with another language or language group, such as Slavo-Germanic or Slavo-Lithuanian. The Latin root is also the source of slave, since Slav peoples had been reduced to that status in the ninth century.

Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 3000+ articles on English!

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Your comments are very welcome.