Church Slavic

noun

1. a liturgical language used in Eastern Orthodox churches in Slavic countries since the 11th or 12th century, representing a development of Old Church Slavonic through contact with the national Slavic languages.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Church Slavic¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Some of the younger members have even asked for services to be conducted in an old Russian tongue called Church Slavic, “but nobody here speaks Russian and we have a lot of converts, so we conduct services in English,” said Father Soroka.

From Washington Times

St. Cyril translated the Bible into the language called the Old or Church Slavic, and from the fact that this translation, made in the middle of the ninth century, is distinguished by great copiousness, and bears the stamp of uncommon perfection in its forms, it is evident that this language must have been flourishing long before that time.

From Project Gutenberg