Slovenes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals originating from or associated with the ethnic group native to the region of Slovenia ; members of a South Slavic people primarily inhabiting a central European country ; people belonging to a nation known for its distinct language, culture, and history in southeastern Europe
2. Persons of Slovene descent; citizens or natives of Slovenia; members of the Slavic ethnic community in Central Europe characterized by unique linguistic and cultural traits
3. Members of the Slovenian ethnic group; inhabitants of Slovenia recognized by their Slavic heritage; people sharing a common language and cultural identity within a European nation

Etymology: The plural "Slovenes" is simply the plural of "Slovene", which is the English name for a member of the South Slavic people who live in Slovenia. The singular "Slovene" was borrowed from German "Slowene", which in turn came from the Slovene self-name "Slovenec". The root is the Proto-Slavic ""slov-", the same stem that gives "Slav" and "Slovak", so all three names share a common ancestry. The stem itself traces back to a Proto-Slavic formation built on ""slov-" with suffixes such as ""-ěninъ", which marked a person belonging to a group. Over time this produced ""slověninъ", the ancestor of the Slovene self-name, meaning roughly a person of the Slavic kind. The English word thus preserves a name that the people themselves used long before the modern nation-state existed.

Synonyms: Slovenians, Slovene people