krievs

See also: Krievs

Latvian

Etymology

From earlier *kreiv-, from a Slavic stem *kriv-, from Proto-Slavic *krȋvъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kréiwas, which has the same source as Latvian krèiss (“left”) (q.v.). At first this was the name of a Baltic tribe that lived in the area near Pskov, an area also inhabited by many Slavs (ancestors of today's Russians), who were likewise called “kriviči” (Old East Slavic кривичи (kriviči)). Old Latvians (initially Latgalians) therefore used the name *kreivi > krievi to refer not only to the neighboring Baltic tribe, but also to their Slavic neighbors, and later on generalized it to all Russians. More at Krivichs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɾìɛws]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

krìevs m (1st declension, female equivalent krieviete)

1. a Russian, a Russian man, a man from Russia or of Russian descent

   sarunāties ar krievu ― to talk with a Russian

   krievi ir skaitliski lielākā slāvu tauta ― the Russians are numerically the largest Slavic people

2. (genitive plural) Russian, pertaining to Russia and its people

   krievu valoda ― the Russian language

   krievu literatūra ― Russian literature

   krievu māksla ― Russian art

Declension

Declension of krievs (1st)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative	krievs	krievi
genitive	krieva	krievu
dative	krievam	krieviem
accusative	krievu	krievus
instrumental	krievu	krieviem
locative	krievā	krievos
vocative	kriev	krievi

Related terms

• Krievija
• krievisks
• krievu valoda