Polab
(ˈpəʊlɑːb)
Also Polabe.
[Slav., cf. Pol. po on, Labe Elbe.]
a. A member of a Slavonic people once inhabiting the region around the lower Elbe. b. The West Slavonic language of this people, now extinct. Also attrib.
| 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 347/2 The earlier inhabitants of Lauenburg were a Slavic tribe known by the name of Polabes. 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., Polabian,..one of an ancient Slavic people dwelling on the lower Elbe, now wholly Germanized... Polab. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 902/1 Polabs,..the Slavs..who dwelt upon the Elbe and eastwards to the Oder. 1911 [see Lech, Lekh n.5 and a.]. 1934 [see Lechitic n. and a.]. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VIII. 72/3 By the early 9th century the Polabs were organized into two confederations or principalities. |