rets

Catalan

Verb

rets

1. Second-person singular present indicative form of retre.

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Danish

Noun

rets c

1. genitive singular indefinite of ret

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Latvian

Alternative forms

• (dialectal form) rēds

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *retas, from Proto-Indo-European *er-, *(e)re- (“loose, sparse, rare; to break down, to fall to pieces”) (whence also irt (“to disintegrate, to fall apart”), q.v.) with an extra suffix -to-s. A parallel form from the same stem with a suffix -dʰ (*redʰ-) led to Old Church Slavonic рѣдъкъ (rědъkъ), Russian редкий, and to Latvian dialectal rēds. Cognates include Lithuanian rẽtas

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ɾæts]

Adjective

rets (def. retais, comp. retāks, sup. visretākais; adv. reti)

1. thin, sparse (formed of a number of similar elements placed at a relatively large distance from one another)

   rets priedulājs — thin, sparse pine forest

   mežs bija pietiekami rets — the forest was rather thin, sparse

   reti mati — thin hair

   reta ķemme — wide-tooth(ed) (lit. thin, sparse) comb

2. sparse (not close to one another)

   grābeklis ar retiem zariem — rake with rare, sparse prongs

   reti koki — sparse trees

3. (of fabric, cloth) thin (with gaps, spaces between the threads)

   reta auduma maisiņš — little sack of thin cloth (= having gaps)

4. (of gazes, fog, air, etc.) thin (not concentrated)

   rets kalnu gaiss — thin mountain air

   migla kļuva retāka un caurspīdīgāka — the mist became thinner and more transparent

5. (of groups of people) thin (having few members)

   viņu rindas bija kļuvušas retākas — their lines, ranks had become thinner

6. rare (of which there is only a small number)

   reti augi — rare plants

   retie ķīmiskie elementi, metāli — rare chemical elements, metals

   retas rokrakstu grāmatas — rare manuscript books

7. rare, infrequent, uncommon (not widely known, distributed, used)

   rets vārdu savienojums — rare, uncommon word combination

   rets izteiciens — rare expression

   reta tautasdziesmas melodija — rare folk tune

8. rare, uncommon (not normal, not ordinary)

   Ubāns ir viens no tiem retajiem māksliniekiem, kurš spēj atklāt skatītājam savu pasauli — Ubāns is one of those rare artists who are able to open their world to the viewer

9. (definite forms) rare one(s) (only a few, not many)

   viņa piederēja pie tiem retajiem, kas prot klausīties — she belonged to (those) rare (people) who know how to listen

   mums varoņu daudz... vien retajam uzcelts piemineklis — we have many heroes... ony to a rare one (= a few) a monument is built

10. rare, infrequent (repeated only after long intervals)

    pa retam — rarely

    rets gadījums — rare case

    retajos brīvajos vakaros māte mums lasīja — in the rare free evenings mother used to read to us

11. rare (which appears, happens infrequently)

    reti viesi — rare guests

    labs draugs ir reta manta pasaulē — a good friend is a rare treasure on earth

Declension

indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of rets

	masculine (vīriešu dzimte)			feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)		singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	rets	reti		reta	retas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	retu	retus		retu	retas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	reta	retu		retas	retu
dative (datīvs)	retam	retiem		retai	retām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	retu	retiem		retu	retām
locative (lokatīvs)	retā	retos		retā	retās
vocative (vokatīvs)	—	—		—	—

Synonyms

• (of "thin", "sparse"): plāns

Antonyms

• (of "thin", "sparse", "not dense", "with gaps or spaces"): blīvs, biezs
• (of "rare"): biežs

Derived terms

• retums

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Old Prussian

Adjective

rets m

1. rare, thin