slovak

slovak — adjective

1. relating to the Central European country of Slovakia, its people, culture, or la

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

relating to the Central European country of Slovakia, its people, culture, or language.

Example

Romi bought a book about Slovak history at the airport bookstore.

collocation: Slovak history

The Slovak embassy in Vienna helped Yumi with her visa application.

collocation: Slovak embassy

Common collocations
  • Slovak history
  • Slovak embassy
  • Slovak government
  • Slovak culture
  • Slovak language

Usage Note

This adjective is almost always used before a noun (attributive position). You can say 'Slovak literature' or 'the Slovak government' but not typically 'the literature is Slovak' in everyday English; use 'Slovakian' or 'from Slovakia' in predicative position instead.

Common Mistakes

She is a Slovakian citizen (using Slovakian for nationality).
She is a Slovak citizen.
For the adjective describing the country and its institutions, 'Slovak' is standard; 'Slovakian' exists but is far less common.

slovak — noun

Word family

  • Slovakia
    proper nounA2
  • Slovakian
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All three forms refer to something connected with Slovakia, but they differ in naturalness and frequency. 'Slovak' is the standard adjective and demonym used in modern English, appearing in fixed phrases such as 'the Slovak Republic', 'Slovak language', and 'Slovak government'. 'Slovakian' is a much less common variant that appears mainly in older texts or when the adjective is used predicatively (e.g. 'the customs are Slovakian'). 'From Slovakia' is the everyday prepositional phrase that works in any position, especially in spoken English. For example, you would say 'a Slovak newspaper' or 'a writer from Slovakia', but 'Slovakian newspaper' would sound slightly unusual.

Slovak ↗Slovakianfrom Slovakia

Common collocations

Nouns

Prepositions

  • from Slovakia

Etymology

Proto-SlavicSlovakEnglish

The word 'Slovak' comes from the Slovak self-name 'Slovák', which traces back to the Proto-Slavic word *slověninъ meaning 'Slav'. The name links the Slovak people to the broader Slavic family. The country name 'Slovakia' was formed by adding the Latin suffix '-ia'.