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Etymology and origin of the French word slave

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1573 F. Bauduin, translation of Herburt de Fulstin More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin Sclavus
Ultimate origin
Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος

Pronunciation

Forms

slave (plural slaves)[1] First Sclave (1573), still used in the 17th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin Sclavus (“Slav”),[2][3][4] also Slavus,[3][5] the same Latin word that gave esclave.[3][4][1] The Medieval Latin word comes from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos).[1] The TLFi also cites the Medieval Latin people's name Sclavini, neighbours of the Bulgarians.[2]

Rey suggests that the name, given from outside with a negative sense, may have been confused with or replaced a derivative of the Russian word for “glory”, the Slavs calling themselves “the glorious”.[3] Another view derives it from the Old Russian word for “word”, the Slavs being those who speak, as against the Germans, whose Russian name rests on a root meaning “mute”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as the noun Sclaves in 1573, in F. Bauduin's translation of J. Herburt de Fulstin's Histoire des roys et princes de Poloigne, naming the peoples of central and eastern Europe whose languages are related.[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective slave is recorded in 1713 in the Menagiana,[2][6] and Stendhal speaks of sang slave in 1827.[2] The same year Mérimée uses the noun for the language,[2] and langues slaves is recorded in 1827;[3] Rey dates the noun le slave “the Slavic language group” to 1876.[3]

Learned derivatives followed in the 19th and 20th centuries: slaviste (1826), slavophile (1852), slaviser (1844), slavisant (1904) and slavistique (1917), the last after German Slavistik.[3][2] Slavon replaced esclavon in 1759.[3]

Timeline

  • 1573 – Sclaves in a translation of a history of the kings of Poland.[2]
  • 1575 – The spelling slave is recorded.[7]
  • 1713 – The adjective in the Menagiana.[2][6]
  • 1827 – Stendhal writes sang slave;[2] Mérimée uses the noun for the language.[2]
  • 1876 – Le slave names the group of Slavic languages.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Slavic, Slav: belonging to the peoples of central and eastern Europe who speak related Indo-European languages: les peuples slaves.[7][2]
  2. Langues slaves: the Slavic languages, including Old Church Slavonic, Bulgarian, Polish, Russian, Czech and others.[7][3]

Noun

  1. (capitalized) A Slav: les Slaves.[7][8]
  2. (linguistics) The Slavic group of languages.[3][1]

Word family

  • slaviser
  • slaviste
  • slavisant
  • slavophile
  • slavistique
  • esclave
  • slavon
  • Medieval Latin Sclavus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Slave.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/slave. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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