gnīda

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *gniʔdaʔ,[1] from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₃nid-[2]. Cognates include Lithuanian glìnda (< *gninda), Proto-Slavic *gnida (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian гни́да (gnída), Belarusian гніда (gnída), Czech hnida, Polish gnida), Old Norse gnit, Swedish gnet, English nit.[3]

• IPA^(key): [ɡnīːda]

gnīda f or m (4th declension)

1. nit (lice eggs)

   gnīdas matos ― nits in the hair

   galvas utis apmetas cilvēka matos; pie matiem tās pielīmē savas oliņas - gnīdas ― head lice settle on human hair; and by that hair they stick their eggs: nits

   vārīja ilgi un teica, ka nu vairs neviena gnīda dzīva nebūšot palikusi ― she boiled (the clothes) for a long time and (then) said that not a single living nit had remained

2. (figuratively) (also masculine, dat. gnīdam) nit, maggot (despicable, worthless person)

   tas bijis turpat kaimiņa saimnieks, īsts gnīda ― that had been the neighbor, a true nit (= despicable person)

   “tu mani te nebaidi, gnīda!” tēvocis izkliedza ― “so you're not afraid of me here, you maggot!” (his) uncle shouted

In the sense of "nit", gnīda is always feminine; in the sense of "despicable person", however, it is ambigenous. It is masculine when it refers to males and feminine when it refers to females. It is, however, always declined as a feminine noun, with the exception of its dative singular form, which is gnīdam when it refers to a male and gnīdai when it refers to a female.