zēns
Latvian
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle High German söhn (“son”) (sȫne); cf. Sohn (“son”). The e is the nearest vowel to ö in Latvian; the length probably results from the influence of dēls (“son”). In an 18th-century dictionary, zēns is mentioned as “rarely used,” and only in the area around Riga and in Courland; in the 19th century, the word was still mostly used in Courland, but had already entered the literary language, as a synonym of puisis.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [zǣːns]
Noun
zēns m (1st declension)
- boy (a male child, approximately until 11 years of age)
- zēnu koris ― boy choir
- zēnu apģērbi ― boys' clothes
- zēnu rotaļas ― boys' games
- zēnu nedarbi ― boys' mischief
- zēnu skola ― boys' school
- zēnu istaba ― the boys' room (restroom, especially at school)
- Haris ir zēns, viņam vēl tālu līdz lielam cilvēkam, viņš daudz nesaprot ― Haris is a boy, he has a long way to go to become a grown-up, he doesn't understand much
- young (especially adolescent) man
- sanāca vairāk nekā divdesmit vīriešu, visvairāk jauni zēni, bet arī pusmūža vīri un pat pāris sirmgalvju ― more than twenty men came, mostly young boys, bet also some middle-aged men and a few seniors
- es vēl negribu uzņemties rūpes par ģimeni... es esmu pavisam zaļš zēns ― I don't want to take care of the family yet... I am (still) a very green (= immature) boy
- boy, boyfriend (a young man in whom a woman is romantically interested)
- meitenei bija savs zēns ― the girl had a boy(friend)
- no tās reizes, kad Jautrīte Raiņa vidusskolas sarīkojumā iepazinās ar Guntaru, daži sāka sačukstēties, ka Guntars esot Jautrītes zēns ― from that time when Jautrīte met Guntars at the event in the Rainis middle school, some (people) started to whisper that Guntars was Jautrīte's boy (= boyfriend)
- (usually with an adjective or adjectival expression) boy, guy (a young man seen as having some, usually positive, quality)
- viņš ir lāga zēns ― he is a nice guy
- tēvocis patiešām bija zelta zēns ― uncle really was a golden boy
- vecais zēns ― old boy! (used to show familiarity, friendship)
Declension
Declension of zēns (1st declension)
Synonyms
Antonyms
Related terms
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “zēns”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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