tēvocis

Latvian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From tēvs (father), with an extra element -oc ([ùots], maybe from *ōk); cf. Lithuanian tėvõkas (older man; grandfather), tėvùkas (daddy; grandfather). First attested in Kurzeme in the 18th century, this word has since then spread to other areas and entered the standard language.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈtǣːvuôt͡sis]

Noun

tēvocis m (2nd declension, feminine form: tante)

  1. uncle (father's or mother's brother)
    mazais zēns kopā ar māti atbrauca no Rīgas pie lauku tēvočathe little boy, together with his mother, arrived from Riga at (his) country(side) uncle's (house, farm)
    kad piedzimst bērns, viņa tēvocis pa mātes līniju iestāda mājas priekšā vairākus mango kokuswhen a (new) child is born, his maternal uncle plants a number of mango trees in front of the house
  2. uncle (a grown man, in relation to a child, even if not the child's real uncle)
    “es te stāvu no pusseptiņiem”, uztraucas kāds tēvocis“I have been standing here since half past six,” some uncle complained

Declension

Synonyms

References

  1. Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “tēvs”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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