Editing Slovaks (section)

== Name ==
{{anchor|Name}}
The name ''Slovak'' is derived from ''*Slověninъ'', plural ''*Slověně'', the old name of the [[Slavs]] ([[Proglas]], around 863).{{efn|
The Slovaks and [[Slovenes]] are the only current Slavic nations that have preserved the original name. For Slovenes, the adjective is still ''slovenski'' and the feminine [[noun]] "Slovene" is still also ''Slovenka'', but the [[masculine]] noun has since changed to ''Slovenec''. The Slovak name for their language is ''slovenčina'' and the Slovene name for theirs is ''slovenščina''. The Slovak term for [[Slovene language|Slovene]] is ''slovinčina''; and the Slovenes call Slovak ''slovaščina''. The name is derived from proto-Slavic form ''slovo'' "word, talk" (cf. Slovak ''sluch'', which comes from the IE root *ḱlew-). Thus ''Slovaks'' as well as ''Slovenians'' would mean "people who speak (the same language)", i.e. people who understand each other.}} The original stem has been preserved in all Slovak words except the masculine noun; the feminine [[noun]] is ''Slovenka'', the [[adjective]] is ''slovenský'', the language is ''slovenčina'' and the country is ''Slovensko''. The first written mention of adjective ''slovenský'' (Slovak) is in 1294 (''ad parvam arborem nystra slowenski breza ubi est meta'').{{sfn|Uličný|1986|p=102}}

The original name of Slovaks ''Slověninъ''/''Slověně'' was still recorded in Pressburg Latin-Czech Dictionary (the 14th century),{{sfn|Uličný|1986|p=101}} but it changed to ''Slovák'' under the influence of [[Czech language|Czech]] and [[Polish language|Polish]] (around 1400). The first written mention of new form in the territory of present-day Slovakia is from [[Bardejov]] (1444, "''Nicoulaus Cossibor hauptman, Nicolaus Czech et Slowak, stipendiarii supremi''"). The mentions in Czech sources are older (1375 and 1385).{{sfn|Marek|2011|p=67}} The change is not related to the ethnogenesis of Slovaks, but exclusively to linguistic changes in the West Slavic languages. The word ''Slovak'' was used also later as a common name for all Slavs in Czech, Polish, and also Slovak together with other forms.{{sfn|Marek|2011|p=67}}

In Hungarian, "Slovak" is ''[[Tót]]'' (pl: ''tótok''), an [[exonym]]. It was originally used to refer to all [[Slav]]s including [[Slovenes]] and [[Croat]]s, but eventually came to refer primarily to Slovaks. Many place names in Hungary such as [[Tótszentgyörgy]], [[Tótszentmárton]], and [[Tótkomlós]] still bear the name. [[Tóth]] is a common Hungarian surname.

The Slovaks have also historically been variously referred to as ''Slovyenyn'', ''Slowyenyny'', ''Sclavus'', ''Sclavi'', ''Slavus'', ''Slavi'', ''Winde'', ''Wende'', or ''Wenden''. The final three terms are variations of the Germanic term [[Wends]], which was historically used to refer to any Slavs living close to Germanic settlements.