bīties

From a no longer extant transitive stem bīt, from Proto-Baltic bī-tey/ti, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey-, *bʰī- (“to hit, to pierce”) (compare Russian бить (bitʹ)). Cognates include Lithuanian bijóti, bijótis (“to be afraid, to fear”), Old Prussian biātwei ([bjātvei]), present 3rd person bia (“to be afraid”) ([bija]) biāsnan (acc., compare Latvian bijāšanu), pobaiint (“to condemn”) (compare Latvian pabaidīt), Old Church Slavonic боꙗти сѧ (bojati sę), Russian бояться (bojatʹsja), Belarusian бая́цца (bajácca), Ukrainian боя́тися (bojátysja), Czech báti se, Polish bać się, Old High German bibēn (“to tremble”) (< *bʰi-bʰoy-ti, a reduplicated root), German beben, Sanskrit भयते (bháyate), Ancient Greek πίθηκος (píthēkos, “ape, monkey”) (*pithos < *bʰidʰ-os (“ugly”), probably from earlier “fearsome”), Latin foedus (“ugly, loathsome, horrible”) (< *bʰoydʰos).[1]

• IPA^(key): [bîːtiɛ̂s]

bīties refl. + (no+) genitive, 1st conj., pres. bīstos, bīsties, bīstas, past bijos

1. to be afraid (to experience fear; to feel insecure)

   bities no suņiem ― to be afraid of dogs

   bīties soda ― to be afraid of punishment

   bīties tumsas ― to be afraid of darkness

   ne no kā nebīties ― to not be afraid of anything

   bīties kā no uguns ― to be afraid as if of fire (= to be very afraid)

   bīstas kā velns no krusta ― he is afraid like the devil (is) of the cross

   bīties pakustēties ― to be afraid of budging

   soļi dobji skan tukšā telpā, tu pūlies klusi staigāt... tukšums, nav ko bīties, tomēr bailes ― the steps sound hollow in the empty space, you try to walk silently... darkness, there is nothing to be afraid of, but (= except) fear

2. to be afraid, to fear (to feel worried, to feel anxiety)

   bīties par dēlu ― to fear for (one's) son

   par tādām bēdām mums vairs nav jābīstas ― we no longer need to fear such misfortune

3. to be afraid, to fear, to dread (to try to avoid)

   bīties šķēršļus ― to fear obstacles

   no darba zemnieki nebijās ― the farmers were not afraid of work

4. (colloquial, usually about plants) to be afraid (to be sensitive to something)

   jaunās šķirnes zemenes nebīstas no salnas ― the new varieties of strawberry are not afraid of the frost

• baidīties
• bail
• bažīties
• uztraukties

• baidīt, baidīties
• baigs, baigums
• bail, bailes
• bailīgs, bailīgums, bailība
• bieds, biedēt, biedināt, biedēklis
• bikls, biklums, biklība