sams
English
Noun
sams
Anagrams
Latvian
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Silurus_glanis_02.jpg/250px-Silurus_glanis_02.jpg)
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Baltic *šamas, from a stem *šam-, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *kam- (“stick, wood”). The semantic change (“wood” > “fish”) is due to resemblance between wels catfish, especially when asleep in water, and pieces of wood. Cognates include Lithuanian šãmas, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Russian, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ukrainian, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Bulgarian сом (som), Czech sumec (Old Czech som), Polish sum, Ancient Greek κάμαξ (kámax, “pile, stake”) (compare Greek καμάκι (kamáki, “spear, harpoon”)).[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
sams m (1st declension)
- wels catfish, sheatfish (a scaleless freshwater catfish, Silurus glanis)
- puiši zivis šauda, saķēruši sirmu samu: liels kā teliņš, melns kā velniņš, plata mute, garas ūsas ― the boys shot the fish, (they had) caught a gray catfish: big as a little calf, black as the devil, wide mouth, long whiskers
Declension
Declension of sams (1st declension)
References
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “sams”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN