"native or inhabitant of Croatia," 1702, from Serbo-Croatian Hrvat "a Croat," from Old Church Slavonic Churvatinu "Croat," literally "mountaineer, highlander," from churva "mountain" (compare Russian khrebet "mountain chain"). Croatian is attested from 1550s as a noun, "a Croat;" 1837 as an adjective; by 1855 as "the Slavic language of the Croats."