puisis
Latvian
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Young_man.jpg/175px-Young_man.jpg)
Etymology
Borrowed from Livonian pȯis (“little child”) (cf. also Estonian poiss, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Finnish dialectal poissi), the diminutive of pūoga (“son, child”).From the same term also puika was borrowed (q.v.). Apparently, puisis is older than puika, since it is already mentioned in 17th-century sources, and occurs in 16th-century family names.[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
puisis m (2nd declension)
- (unmarried) young man, youth, boy
- puiša dienas ― young man's days (i.e., before marriage)
- palikt, dzīvot puisī ― to remain, to live as (lit. in) a young man (= unmarried)
- vasarā klēts bija jauniešu - puišu un meitu - iemīļota satikšanās vieta ― in summer the barn was the favorite meeting place of young people - boys and girls
- un nākotne nu bija tāda, ka Ilga precēsies ar šo puisi ― and the future was now such that Ilga (had) married this young man
- (less frequentlly) boy (male child)
- “cik tev gadu, puis?” prasu zēnam; “drīz būs četri, bet pagaidām... trīs un divi mēneši”, viņš lepni atbild ― “how old are you, boy?” I ask the boy; “soon I'll be four, but for now... three and two months,” he answered proudly
- (dated) servant, help; unmarried servant
- krogus puisis ― the pub, bar boy (= bartender)
- pasta puisis ― the mail guy (= mailman, postman)
- zirgu puisis ― horse, stable boy
- vasara puisis ― a summer boy (= hired for the summer)
- salīgt pie saimnieka par puisi ― to be hired by a farmer as a boy (= young servant)
Declension
Declension of puisis (2nd declension)
Synonyms
- (of "young man"): jaunietis, jauneklis, puika
- (of "male child"): zēns, zeņķis, puika, puisēns, puisītis
- (of "helper", "servant"): kalps
Antonyms
- (of "male child"): meitene, meitenīte, skuķēns
- (of "young man"): jauniete, meitene, meita, skuķis, skuķe
Derived terms
References
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “puika”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
Categories:
- Latvian etymologies from LEV
- Latvian terms borrowed from Livonian
- Latvian terms derived from Livonian
- Latvian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latvian words with level intonation
- Latvian lemmas
- Latvian nouns
- Latvian masculine nouns
- Latvian terms with usage examples
- Latvian dated terms
- Latvian second declension nouns
- lv:Children
- lv:Male