postava

See also: postavă

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech postava, from Proto-Slavic *postava.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpostava]

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: pos‧ta‧va

Noun

postava f

1. character (being in a story)
2. figure (human figure; shape of human body)

Declension

Declension of postava (hard feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	postava	postavy
genitive	postavy	postav
dative	postavě	postavám
accusative	postavu	postavy
vocative	postavo	postavy
locative	postavě	postavách
instrumental	postavou	postavami

Further reading

• “postava”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “postava”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “postava”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Italian

Verb

postava

1. third-person singular imperfect indicative of postare

Anagrams

• svapato

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *postava.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈpostaʋa/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈpostava/

Noun

postava f

1. character
2. figure

Declension

Declension of postava (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	postava	postavě	postavy
genitive	postavy	postavú	postav
dative	postavě	postavama	postavám
accusative	postavu	postavě	postavy
vocative	postavo	postavě	postavy
locative	postavě	postavú	postavách
instrumental	postavú	postavama	postavami

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

Descendants

• Czech: postava

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “postava”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Portuguese

Verb

postava

1. first/third-person singular imperfect indicative of postar

Slovak

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó

Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó

Proto-Balto-Slavic *pa

Proto-Slavic *po

Proto-Slavic *po-

Old Slovak po-

Slovak po-

Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *sth₂ēw-

Proto-Balto-Slavic *stāw-

Proto-Slavic *staviti

Slovak staviť

Slovak postaviťdeverb.

Slovak postava

Deverbal from postaviť.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔstava/, [ˈpɔstaʋa]
• Rhymes: -ava
• Hyphenation: pos‧ta‧va

Noun

postava f (diminutive postavička)

1. figure, physique, stature (the human body with regard to its lines, proportions, and height)

   Synonyms: vzrast, telo

   V dverách stál muž mohutnej plecnatej postavy. ― A man of a massive, broad-shouldered physique stood in the doorway.

2. figure, silhouette, person (the physical appearance or presence of a human being, often seen from a distance or in shadow)

   Synonyms: zjav, osoba

   V diaľke sa pomaly črtali dve ľudské postavy kráčajúce v snehu. ― In the distance, two human figures walking in the snow were slowly taking shape.

3. character, figure (a personality depicted in literature, drama, or film; or a significant historical individual)

   Synonyms: osobnosť, hrdina

   V dnešnom predstavení náš obľúbený herec stvárnil hlavnú postavu tragédie. ― In today's performance, our favorite actor portrayed the main character of the tragedy.

Declension

Declension of postava
(pattern žena)

	singular	plural
nominative	postava	postavy
genitive	postavy	postáv
dative	postave	postavám
accusative	postavu	postavy
locative	postave	postavách
instrumental	postavou	postavami

Further reading

• “postava”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026