lauva
Latvian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Middle High German louwe (cf. German Löwe), from Proto-Germanic *laujan, a borrowing from Latin leō. It has been suggested, on the basis of Lithuanian liū̃tas (“lion”), Russian лю́тый зверь (ljútyj zverʹ, “beast, lion”), that there was an earlier Slavo-Balto-Germanic term with the root *liu-; if so, this term was lost very early on in Latvian, replaced by the Middle High German borrowing. First mentioned (as lavis, lauve) in 17th-century Bible translations. A family name Louvis is attested from the 16th century.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
lauva m or f (4th declension, irregular gender, dative singular)
- lion in general (Panthera leo)
- lauvu mātīte, lauvene ― female lion, lioness
- dresēt lauvas ― to tame, train lions
- lauvas tiesa ― the lion's share, the biggest part
- specifically, a male lion
Usage notes edit
The term lauva is ambigenous. It is masculine when it refers to males and feminine when it refers to females. It is, however, always declined as a feminine noun, with the exception of its dative singular form, which is lauvam when it refers to a male and lauvai when it refers to a female.
Declension edit
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Synonyms edit
- (idiom) zvēru ķēniņš
Derived terms edit
- Lauva (Zodiac symbol)
- lauvene
- lauvēns
- jūras lauva
- skudrlauva
Descendants edit
- → Livonian: louv
References edit
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “lauva”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
lauva n
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Noun edit
lauva n