gintaras

See also: Gintaras

Lithuanian

Gintaras

Etymology

Cognate with Latvian dzintars, from a Baltic root of mysterious origin, which propagated into various Slavic languages. Many outside comparisons have been proposed, among which include Latin glaesum (“amber”), Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “id”), Hittite [script needed] (hust-), and Sanskrit यम् (yam, “to hold, restrain”) (owing to amber's ability to hold static electricity and thus hold onto various objects).

A borrowing from a supposed Phoenician [script needed] (jainitar, “sea-resin”) is unlikely, as the Baltic region is known for its amber deposits, and such an abundant resource would generally not be described with a loanword. The exact details of the relation with Hungarian gyanta (“resin”) are unclear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʲɪnˑtɐrɐs/

Noun

giñtaras m (plural gintarai̇̃) stress pattern 3b

1. amber (fossil resin)

Declension

Declension of giñtaras

	singular (vienaskaita)	plural (daugiskaita)
nominative (vardininkas)	giñtaras	gintarai̇̃
genitive (kilmininkas)	giñtaro	gintarų̃
dative (naudininkas)	giñtarui	gintaráms
accusative (galininkas)	giñtarą	giñtarus
instrumental (įnagininkas)	giñtaru	gintarai̇̃s
locative (vietininkas)	gintarè	gintaruosè
vocative (šauksmininkas)	giñtare	gintarai̇̃

Descendants

• → Old Ruthenian: є҆нта́рь (je҆ntárʹ)
  • >? Belarusian: янта́р (jantár)
  • Carpathian Rusyn: янта́рь (jantárʹ)
  • Ukrainian: янта́р (jantár); я́нтра f (jántra) (dialectal)
• → Middle Russian: онта́рь (ontárʹ), оньта́рь (onʹtárʹ), ꙗнта́рь (jantárʹ)
  • Russian: янта́рь (jantárʹ)
    • →? Belarusian: янта́р (jantár)
    • → Czech: jantar
    • → Macedonian: јантар (jantar)
    • → Polish: jantar
    • → Serbo-Croatian:
      • Cyrillic script: јантар
      • Latin script: jantar
    • → Slovak: jantár
    • → Slovene: jantar

Further reading

• “gintaras”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2025