Etymology

From Late Latin sclavus or Sclavus, from Byzantine Greek σκλάβος ‎(sklábos, “Slav”) or Σκλάβος ‎(Sklábos), probably from earlier Σλαβῆνος ‎(Slabênos), from plural Σλαβῆνοι ‎(Slabênoi), from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ. Compare Daco-Romanian șcheau, which seems to have preserved the original ancient ethnic meaning before it took on the sense of "slave" later on, the meaning found in the other Romance language descendants of the word, such as Italian schiavo. See also the borrowed neologism sclav, from the same source. ^[1]