valsts

Latvian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *walˀstís, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wolh₁dʰh₁-ti-s, from *h₂welh₁dʰh₁-, from *h₂welh₁- (to rule). Morphologically from valdīt (to reign, to rule) (*vald-tis > *valstis > valsts; compare dialectal form valdzs).

The original meaning was “power, domination”; by the 18th century, this had been changed to “parish, fief, administrative district”, with significant geographic variation well into the 19th century. Only in the 20th century did the current meaning become stable. Cognates include Lithuanian val̃sčius (district, parish, township) (< *vald-tius, dialectal val̃stis), valstýbė (country, state), Proto-Slavic *volstь (possession) from *volsti (to reign, to rule).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [vàlsts]
(file)

Noun

valsts f (6th declension)

  1. state, country (a sovereign polity with a government; the territory of this polity)
    demokratiska, monarhiska valstsdemocratic, monarchic state
    valsts varastate power
    valsts teritorijacountry (lit. state territory)
    valsts galvahead of state
    valsts pārvaldegovernment (lit. state administration)
    valsts iekšējās lietasa country's internal affairs
    valsts iestādepublic (lit. state) authority
    valsts budžetsstate budget
    valsts īpašumsstate property
    valsts monopolsstate monopoly
    valsts valodaofficial (lit. state) language
    valsts sekretārs, kanclerssecretary, chancellor of state
    valsts drošībastate security
    Baltijas valstisBaltic countries
    nepievienojušās valstisdeveloping countries
    Amerikas Savienotās ValstisUnited States of America
  2. (taxonomy) kingdom (one of the highest divisions in the classification of living beings)
    augu valstsplant kingdom
    dzīvnieku valstsanimal kingdom

Declension

Derived terms

References

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