Etymology of the word "slave"

Webster says that the word "slave" goes back to the word "Slav", as the early slaves in Europe were all from among Slavs. Is this etymology generally accepted, or are there some other theories?


Solution 1:

This etymology seems fairly certain. Per the OED, the words Slav and slave comes from the Medieval Latin sclavus (c. 800CE), itself from the late Greek Σκλαβος (c. 580CE). According to the OED, documents of the ninth century attest to the attribution of word to the subjugated peoples of central Europe.