ūdens

Latvian

Ūdens

Ūdens molekula (H₂O)

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *ūden- (or perhaps from Proto-Balto-Slavic *wandō), from the r/n-heteroclitic Proto-Indo-European noun *wódr̥, *wédōr, itself from a stem *wed- (“to moisten”). In Latvian, only the n-form of the stem survived in ūdens, but the r-form can be seen in the related term ūdrs (“otter”). The lack of initial v in Latvian also suggests that a specific dialectal term was generalized: v-initial forms can still be found in geographic names (e.g. the river Vadakste, the word vads in its dialectal senses: creek, swampy forest, etc., and place names derived from it, like Mēnešvads, Alkšņa vads, etc.). Cognates include Lithuanian vanduõ, dialectal unduõ, únduo, Old Prussian unds m, wundan n, Proto-Slavic *voda (Old Church Slavonic, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Russian вода́ (vodá), Czech voda, Polish woda), Old Church Slavonic вѣдро (vědro, “small vessel”), Russian ведро́ (vedró, “bucket”), Ukrainian відро́ (vidró), Czech vědro, Polish wiadro, Proto-Germanic *watōr (Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (watō), Old High German wazzar, German Wasser, English water, wet), Hittite wātar (< *wódr̥), Sanskrit उदन् (udán), Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), Latin unda (“wave”) (from *udn- with metathesis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ûːdɛns]

• (file)

Noun

ūdens m (2nd declension, irregular nominative, genitive)

1. water (transparent liquid substance formed by hydrogen and oxygen; H₂O)

   smagais ūdens ― heavy water (hydrogen peroxyde, H₂O₂)

   ūdens molekula ― water molecule, H₂O

   tīrs, skaidrs ūdens ― clean, clear water

   dzeramais ūdens ― drinking (lit. drinkable) water

   duļķains ūdens ― muddy water

   mīksts, ciets ūdens ― soft, hard water

   vārīts, destilēts, gāzēts ūdens ― boiled, distilled, carbonated water

   jūras, upes, lietus ūdens ― sea, river, rain water

   ūdens ceļš, ūdensceļš ― waterway

   saldūdens, sālsūdens ― freshwater, saltwater

   atmosfēras, augsnes ūdens ― atmospheric, soil water

   artēziskais ūdens ― artesian water

   tējas, kafijas ūdens ― tea, coffee water (i.e., boiled for tea, coffee)

   svētais ūdens ― holy water

   ūdens saturs šķīdumā ― the water content of a solution

   ūdens lāse, strūkla ― a drop, a spray of water

   ūdens tvaiks ― water vapor

   ūdens krājumi, resursi ― water supplies, resources

   ūdens apgāde ― water supply (system)

   ūdens tek, plūst, pil ― water is leaking, flowing, dripping

   smelt, dzert, attīrīt ūdeni ― to draw, to drink, to purify water

   ūdenī šķīstoša viela ― a substance soluble in water

   mazgāties aukstā ūdenī ― to wash in cold water

   ūdens tilpe, ūdenstilpe ― water body, wetland

   ūdens līmenis ― water level

   virs, zem ūdens ― above, under water

   ūdens nelaime ― sea (lit. water) accident

   ūdens riņķojums dabā ― the cycle of water in nature

2. (in the plural) waters (large amounts, large bodies of water)

   virszemes, sauszemes ūdeņi ― surface, land water (lit. waters)

   pazemes ūdeņi ― groundwater, underground water (lit. waters)

   ārstnieciskie ūdeņi ― healing waters (e.g., at a spa)

   palu ūdeņi ― flood water (lit. waters)

   termālie ūdeņi ― thermal water) (lit. waters)

3. (in the plural) water (a body, bodies of water with a specific use, or belonging to a specific region or country)

   zvejas ūdeņi ― fishing waters

   teritoriālie ūdeņi ― territorial waters

   iekšējie ūdeņi ― internal, inland waters

   starptautiskie ūdeņi ― international waters

4. (genitive, used adjectivally) water, aquatic, aqua- (using, relating to water)

   ūdens terapija, diēta ― water therapy, diet

   ūdens dziednīca ― water (health) resort, spa

   ūdens apkure ― water heating

   'ūdens turbīna ― water turbine

   'ūdens spainis, sūknis ― water bucket, pump

   ūdens pulkstenis ― water clock

   ūdens šķīdums ― water solution

   ūdens krāns ― water valve

5. (genitive, used adjectivally) water, aquatic (relating to bodies of water)

   ūdens transports ― water transport

   ūdenssports ― water sports

   ūdensslēpes ― water skis

   ūdens polo ― water polo

6. (genitive, used adjectivally) water, aquatic (which lives, is situated, in or near bodies of water, or in water-rich areas)

   ūdens augi, ūdensaugi ― aquatic plants

   ūdens lilija, ūdens roze, ūdensroze ― water lily

   ūdens zāle, ūdenszāle ― seaweed (lit. water weed)

   ūdens dzīvnieki, ūdensdzīvnieki ― aquatic animals

   ūdens putni, ūdensputni ― aquatic birds

   ūdens gliemji, kukaiņi ― aquatic mollusks, insects

7. (of cosmetic products) water (a water solution containing also alcohol, oils, herbal extracts)

   sejas ūdens ― face water

   tualetes ūdens ― eau-de-toilette, eau-de-cologne

8. (colloquial, of texts, words) watery, uninteresting, boring; empty, meaningless

   ūdens gabals ― piece of water (= contentless, excessively long text)

   tu slauc pareizu pienu, bet, mīļā māt, tavas meitas dzied dziesmas, kam ūdens klāt! ― you milk good milk, but, dear mother, your daughters sing songs that are covered with water

Declension

Declension of ūdens (2nd declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	ūdens	ūdeņi
accusative (akuzatīvs)	ūdeni	ūdeņus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	ūdens	ūdeņu
dative (datīvs)	ūdenim	ūdeņiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	ūdeni	ūdeņiem
locative (lokatīvs)	ūdenī	ūdeņos
vocative (vokatīvs)	ūdeni	ūdeņi

Derived terms

• minerālūdens
• tualetes ūdens
• ūdenspolo
• ūdensvads
• ūdensvīrs
• ūdeņains, ūdeņainība, ūdeņainums
• ūdeņradis
• zemūdene
• ziepjūdens

References

• ūdens at tezaurs.lv