Etymology

Borrowing from Medieval Latin sclavus ‎(“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus ‎(“a Slav”), from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος ‎(Sklábos) (or borrowed from the Greek directly), itself probably from earlier Σλαβῆνος ‎(Slabênos), from plural Σλαβῆνοι ‎(Slabênoi), from Proto-Slavic *slověne. Doublet of eslavo.