sviests

Latvian

Sviests

Etymology

Originally the (adjectival) past passive participle of an old verb *sviest (“to smear, to spread”) (cf. Lithuanian svíesti); the original meaning of sviests was thus “(something) smeared (on something else), (something) used for smearing;” cf. Russian масло (máslo, “butter, oil”) and мазать (mázat’, “to smear, spread (oil)”), or Latin unguen (“fat, grease”) and unguō (“to smear, to anoint”). The verb *sviest would in turn come from *sviesti, from Proto-Baltic *swied-ti, from Proto-Indo-European *sweid- (“to shine”) (whence also Latvian svīst “to sweat; to steam; to dawn” q.v.); its original meaning would have been “to make something shine” > “to smear with oil, so that it shines” > “to smear” (cf. its descendant svaidīt “to anoint,” originally the iterative form of *sviest). Cognates include Lithuanian svíestas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sviɛ̂sts]

Noun

sviests m (1st declension)

1. butter (a dairy product, obtained from cream, with a high fat concentration)

   krējuma sviests ― cream butter

   skābkrējuma sviests ― sour cream butter

   sūkalu sviests ― whey butter

   svaigs sviests ― fresh butter

   nesalīts sviests ― unsalted butter

   kausēts sviests ― melted butter

   sviesta trauks ― butter bowl

   sautēt saknes sviestā ― to sautee roots in butter

   sviesta rūpniecība ― butter industry

   kult sviestu ― to churn butter

   gaiteņa pustumsā viņai skrēja pretī sviestā ceptu pankūku smarža ― in the darkness of the corridor the smell of pancakes fried in butter came (lit. ran) to her

2. (in the genitive, used adjectivally) butter; containing butter, made with butter

   sviesta cepumi ― butter cookies

   sviesta mīklu gatavo no sviesta, cukura, kviešu miltiem, nedaudz pievienojot olas ― butter dough is made from butter, sugar, (and) wheat flour, adding a little egg (= one or two eggs)

3. butter, spread (any food paste generally used as spread)
4. (slang) nonsense; something that is bizarre
5. (slang) something that has poor quality, is not successful

   saiet sviestā ― to deteriorate; to fail (lit. to go into butter)

Declension

Declension of sviests (1st declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	sviests	sviesti
accusative (akuzatīvs)	sviestu	sviestus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	sviesta	sviestu
dative (datīvs)	sviestam	sviestiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	sviestu	sviestiem
locative (lokatīvs)	sviestā	sviestos
vocative (vokatīvs)	sviests	sviesti

Derived terms

• sviestmaize