 In the early 16th century, the Venetian authorities dubbed this border region of their Republic as "Schiavonia Veneta", meaning "Venetian Slav-land".The Venetian words "Schiavoni" and "Schiavonia" were general terms used for all South Slavic peoples with which they came in direct contact, Slovenes as well as for Croats and Serbs from Dalmatia.The corresponding Latin term, Sclavonia, was also the source for the name of the region of Slavonia in present-day Croatia.