гуляти

Ukrainian

Etymology

Old East Slavic [Term?], cognate with Belarusian гуля́ць (huljácʹ), Russian гулять (guljatʹ).

Further origins are uncertain. It may be related to interjection гуля (hulja). Also it is comparable to Serbo-Croatian гулити (“to drink alcohol”), Lithuanian gulė́ti (“to lie”).

Another version is that it is formed from бити в гулю (byty v hulju, “to play with a ball”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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• IPA^(key): [ɦʊˈlʲate]

Verb

гуля́ти • (huljáty) impf (perfective погуля́ти)

1. (intransitive) to walk
2. (intransitive) to spend time with fun, to have fun
3. (intransitive) to spend time drinking alcohol, to booze
4. (transitive, colloquial) to be in a close romantic relationship
5. (transitive) to play a game
6. (transitive) not to be used
7. (transitive, figurative, colloquial) to bash
8. (intransitive) to have mating season (about animals)
9. (intransitive, dated) to dance

References

• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “гуляти”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “гуляти”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka