ūsa

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Latvian

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Kaķa ūsas (2)
Zivs ūsas (3)
Prusaka ūsas (3)

Etymology

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Borrowed from Old East Slavic усъ (usŭ, moustache, beard) (compare Russian усы́ (usý, moustache)). The word apparently entered the language in the 18th century, at first mostly in more Eastern dialects: at the beginning of the 19th century, it was still little known in northern Vidzeme. By the mid-19th century, however, it had become more widely known, albeit with variations (ūse, ūsi, ūsas). The form ūsas became stable only at the end of the 19th century.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ūsa f (4th declension)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) moustache (hair between the nose and the lips)
    melnas ūsasblack moustache
    kuplas ūsasbushy moustache
    audzēt ūsasto grow a moustache
    noglaudīt ūsasto stroke (one's) moustache
    skrullēt ūsu galusto twirl (one's) moustache tips
  2. (chiefly in the plural) whiskers (hair-like tactile projections on the sides of the upper lip of certain mammals)
    kaķis ar garām, baltām ūsāma cat with long, white whiskers
    žurkas purns ar pagarajām ūsāma rat's muzzle with extended, long whiskers
  3. barbels, antennae (hair-like feeler organ on fish, insects, etc.)
    sams sāka peldēt: liela galva, garās ūsas, tumša mugurathe catfish started swimming: big head, long barbels, dark back
    ja prusakiem tiek zaudēta kāja vai ūsa, kukainis to spēj ataudzētif cockroaches lose a leg or an antenna, the insect can regenerate it, grow it again

Usage notes

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Even though the singular forms do exist and are occasionally found (especially in the “insect antenna” sense), the plural forms are much more frequent.

Declension

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “ūsa”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN