Word
serb
Phoneticsserb
/ˈsɝb/
Definitions
01a person
n. a person who belongs to the Serb ethnic group.
n. a member of the South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans and surrounding regions.
“Her grandfather was a Serb who moved to Chicago in the 1950s.”
“The community centre serves as a gathering place for Serbs living in the diaspora to celebrate traditional holidays together.”
Usage
Always capitalized as a proper noun.
02relating to Serbs
adj. relating to the Serb people, their culture, or their history.
adj. pertaining to the Serb people, their ethnic identity, or their cultural heritage.
“We enjoyed listening to traditional Serb folk music at the festival.”
“The museum features an extensive collection of Serb textiles, showcasing intricate embroidery patterns passed down through generations.”
Usage
Often used interchangeably with 'Serbian' in casual contexts, though 'Serb' specifically emphasizes ethnic identity.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Serbo-Croatian Srbi, from Proto-Slavic sьrbъ (“ally, Serb, Sorb”), from Proto-Indo-European ser- (“to protect, watch over”); akin to Latin servo (“I guard, I protect”), Old English searu (“weapons, armor”), Lithuanian sárgas (“watchman”), Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”), Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraⁱti), 𐬵𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haᵘruuaⁱti, “to guard”). Doublet of Sorb.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/serb