mēness

See also: meness and Mēness

Latvian

Mēness

Alternative forms

• Mēness

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”). Cognates include Lithuanian mėnuo (“month, moon”), Old Church Slavonic мѣсѧць (měsęcĭ, “moon, month”) (Russian ме́сяц (mésjac), Polish miesiąc, Czech měsíc), Sanskrit मास (māsa), Persian ماه (mâh), Old Armenian ամիս (amis), Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “moon”), Latin mēnsis (“month”) (Spanish mes, Italian mese, French mois), Proto-Celtic *mīns (Irish mí, Welsh mis), Proto-Germanic *mēnōþs (“month”) (Old English mōnaþ, English month, German Monat, Dutch maand, Swedish månad).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

mēness m (2nd declension, irregular nominative, genitive)

1. (astronomy) moon (largest satellite of the Earth; often Mēness)

   mēness aptumsums ― lunar eclipse

   mēness virsma ― moon surface

   mēness gaisma, mēnessgaisma ― moonlight

   mēness spīd ― the moon shines

   mēness nakts ― (full) moon night

   mēness jūra ― moon sea, mare (dark area on the surface of the moon)

   mēness kalendārs ― lunar calendar

   mēness fāzes ― moon phases

   jauns, augošs, pilns, dilstošs mēness ― new, crescent, full, waning moon

   vecs mēness ― old moon (visible only as a thin crescent oriented towards the sun)

   tukšs mēness ― empty moon (new moon when entirely invisible)

   bāls kā mēness ― pale as the moon

2. (astronomy) moon, satellite (of another planet)

   Jupitera mēneši ― the moons of Jupiter

Usage notes

• When referring to the Earth's largest satellite as a location, mēness is often capitalized: Mēness.
• The noun mēnesis (“month”) is often confused with its homonym mēness (“moon”), with which it has most declension forms in common (only the nominative singular and genitive singular forms of these two nouns are different).

Declension

Declension of mēness (2nd declension)

	singular	plural
nominative	mēness	mēneši
genitive	mēness	mēnešu
dative	mēnesim	mēnešiem
accusative	mēnesi	mēnešus
instrumental	mēnesi	mēnešiem
locative	mēnesī	mēnešos
vocative	mēnesi	mēneši

Derived terms

• mēnessgaisma, mēness gaisma

See also

• mēnesis
• saules sistēma