​WENDS, the name applied by the Germans to the Slavs (q.v.) wherever they came in contact with them. It is now used for the Slovenes (q.v.), for the Germanized Polabs (q.v.) in eastern Hanover, and especially for the Lusatian Wends or Sorbs (q.v.). It is first found in Pliny (Venedae) and in English is used by Alfred.