vilks
See also: Vilks
Latvian
Etymology
From Proto-Balto-Slavic *wilkás, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos. The word would originally have been a descriptive nickname ('the killer, the plunderer, the destroyer'), the original name having perhaps become a taboo word. Note that similarly formed nicknames for “wolf” still occur in modern Latvian: pelēcis (“gray one”), mežainis (“forest one”), mežavīrs (“forest man”), vecbrālis (“old brother”), etc.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [vìlks]
Audio | (file) |
Noun
vilks m (1st declension)
- wolf (esp. Canis lupus)
- pelēkais vilks ― gray wolf
- vilka midzenis ― wolf's lair
- vilku bars ― a pack of wolves
- vilks gaudo, kauc ― the wolf howls
- vilku kaucieni ― wolf howls
- medīt vilkus ― to hunt wolves
- izsalcis kā vilks ― hungry as a wolf
Declension
Declension of vilks (1st declension)
Derived terms
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “vilks”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
Lithuanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [vʲɪlks̪]
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