Standard Lemma guide

slava

name · noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈslɑːvə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑːvə
  • CMU ARPABET: S L AA1 V AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A transliteration of the Russian or Ukrainian male given name diminutive Сла́ва (Sláva)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The custom of honoring a family patron saint, celebrated chiefly by the Serbs, but also by some Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bulgarians and Gorani.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Eastern Orthodoxy

Examples

  • 1942: I was also enchanted at the opportunity of seeing a Slava (the word means ‘Holy’), which is the distinctive social custom of the Serbs. — Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Canongate 2006, p. 753)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From South Slavic slava / слава (slava), literally "fame, glory". The word is also used in some Slavic languages to wish blessings to another person.