slavi

name

1. The Russian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated from January 6 through 13 in outstate Alaska, USA, wherever there is a sizable Russian Orthodox population.

   “Following are three recipes for the large size pie – piroghi – one a very large size pie which the cook, Marlene Johnson of Naknek, says is excellent for "Slavi time."”

   “Church functions such as the Moravian Song Fests and the Russian Orthodox Christmas ("Slavi") provide opportunities for social gatherings and visiting among residents of the communities.”

   “Thousands of Alaskans joined believers around the world this week in celebrating Russian Orthodox Christmas. The ‘Slavi’ celebration follows the old Julian calendar, with Christmas Day on January 7. Festivities last several days as church groups visit relatives and friends, singing traditional carols and enjoying plates of food at each stop.”

noun

1. (archaic, form-of, plural)plural of Slav.

   “The tribes of the Slavi were diſtinguiſhed by peculiar names; thus we have the Slavi Marahani, Slavi Sorbi, Slavi Behemani, Slavi Dalemincii, Slavi Carentani, Slavi Polaci or Poloni, Slavi Chorvati, Slavi Roſſi, &c. A great many of theſe are taken from rivers, and parts of the country they inhabited.”

   “[T]hey appear frequently in the accounts of the Byzantine historians, under the different appellations of the Slavi, Sarmatæ, Antæ, Vandales, Veneti, and Vendes, mostly as involved in the wars of the two Roman empires, sometimes as allies, sometimes as conquerors; […]”

   “Early Roman writers refer to the Slavi under the names of the Venedi (Vindes) and the Servians, both of which still designate branches of the race.”