četri

From Proto-Baltic *ketur-, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”) (stem *kʷetwer-, *kʷetur-), apparently an old compound, from *kʷa-, *kʷe- (“and”), and *tʷer-, *tur-, the same stem found in turēt (“to hold, to keep”), tvert (“to grasp”) (q.v.). In Latvian, Proto-Baltic *ketur- yielded at first cetri (IPA^(key): [tsætri]), conserved in 16-18th century texts (as caetr, czaettri, czettri). The c was conserved in ceturtais, certurkārt, ceturksnis, but changed to č in četri perhaps under Slavic influence, helped by the final i (which also caused [æ] → [ɛ]). Cognates include Lithuanian keturì, Sudovian teter (from *kʲeter, from *ketur-), Old Prussian kettwirts (“fourth”), Old Church Slavonic четꙑре (četyre), Russian четыре (četýre), Belarusian чаты́ры (čatýry), Ukrainian чотирі (čotýri), Bulgarian четири (čétiri), Czech čtyři, Polish cztery, Sanskrit चतुर् (čatur), Ancient Greek τέτταρες (téttares), (Homeric τέσσαρες (téssares), Doric τέτορες (tétores)), Latin quattuor.[1]

• IPA^(key): [tʃɛtri]

četri

1. four (the cipher, the cardinal number four; sometimes undeclined)

   divi un divi ir četri ― two plus two is four

   skaitīt līdz četri ― to count to four

   uzrakstīt uz tāfeles četri ― to write a four on the blackboard

   pie četriem pielikt piecus ― to add five to four

2. four (B, good, a school grade; syn. četrinieks)

   saņemt četri ― to get a B (lit. four)

3. four (an amount equal to four)

   četri kilometri, kilogrami ― four kilometers, kilograms (= kilos)

   ierasties pēc četrām stundām ― to come in, after four hours

   aizbraukt uz četriem gadiem ― to leave for four years

   izlasīt četras grāmatas nodaļas ― to read four book chapters

   ar, uz visām četrām ― on all four (hands and feet)

4. four o'clock (a moment in time; four hours after midnight, or after noon)

   pulkstenis ir četri ― it is four o'clock

   beigt darbu četros pēc pusdienas ― to finish work at four o'clock after lunch (= in the afternoon)

   gaidīt no četriem līdz pieciem ― to wait from four to five o'clock

   ap četriem ― at about four o'clock

• ceturksnis
• ceturtkārt

• skaitlis

četri (Cyrillic spelling четри)

1. (colloquial) four

• četiri (Standard)