See also: RETs

English

edit

Verb

edit

rets

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of ret

Anagrams

edit

Catalan

edit

Verb

edit

rets

  1. second-person singular present indicative of retre

Danish

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

rets c

  1. indefinite genitive singular of ret

French

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited from Old French reiz, rez, rei (with spelling re-Latinized in modern French), from Latin rētem.

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ʁɛ/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

edit

rets m pl (plural only)

  1. (hunting, figurative) snare
  2. (fishing) net

Derived terms

edit

Further reading

edit

Latvian

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Baltic *retas, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (loose, sparse, rare; to break down, to fall to pieces) (whence also irt (to disintegrate, to fall apart), q.v.) with an extra suffix -to-s. A parallel form from the same stem with a suffix -dʰ (*redʰ-) led to Old Church Slavonic рѣдъкъ (rědŭkŭ), Russian редкий (redkij), and to Latvian dialectal rēds. Cognates include Lithuanian rẽtas[1]

Pronunciation

edit
  This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Adjective

edit

rets (definite retais, comparative retāks, superlative visretākais, adverb reti)

  1. thin, sparse (formed of a number of similar elements placed at a relatively large distance from one another)
    rets priedulājsthin, sparse pine forest
    mežs bija pietiekami retsthe forest was rather thin, sparse
    reti matithin hair
    reta ķemmewide-tooth(ed) (lit. thin, sparse) comb
  2. sparse (not close to one another)
    grābeklis ar retiem zariemrake with rare, sparse prongs
    reti kokisparse trees
  3. (of fabric, cloth) thin (with gaps, spaces between the threads)
    reta auduma maisiņšlittle sack of thin cloth (= having gaps)
  4. (of gazes, fog, air, etc.) thin (not concentrated)
    rets kalnu gaissthin mountain air
    migla kļuva retāka un caurspīdīgākathe mist became thinner and more transparent
  5. (of groups of people) thin (having few members)
    viņu rindas bija kļuvušas retākastheir lines, ranks had become thinner
  6. rare (of which there is only a small number)
    reti augirare plants
    retie ķīmiskie elementi, metālirare chemical elements, metals
    retas rokrakstu grāmatasrare manuscript books
  7. rare, infrequent, uncommon (not widely known, distributed, used)
    rets vārdu savienojumsrare, uncommon word combination
    rets izteiciensrare expression
    reta tautasdziesmas melodijarare folk tune
  8. rare, uncommon (not normal, not ordinary)
    Ubāns ir viens no tiem retajiem māksliniekiem, kurš spēj atklāt skatītājam savu pasauliUbāns is one of those rare artists who are able to open their world to the viewer
  9. (definite forms) rare one(s) (only a few, not many)
    viņa piederēja pie tiem retajiem, kas prot klausītiesshe belonged to (those) rare (people) who know how to listen
    mums varoņu daudz... vien retajam uzcelts pieminekliswe have many heroes... only to a rare one (= a few) a monument is built
  10. rare, infrequent (repeated only after long intervals)
    pa retamrarely
    rets gadījumsrare case
    retajos brīvajos vakaros māte mums lasījain the rare free evenings mother used to read to us
  11. rare (which appears, happens infrequently)
    reti viesirare guests
    labs draugs ir reta manta pasaulēa good friend is a rare treasure on earth

Declension

edit

Synonyms

edit

Antonyms

edit
  • (antonym(s) of of "thin", "sparse", "not dense", "with gaps or spaces"): blīvs, biezs
  • (antonym(s) of of "rare"): biežs

Derived terms

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “rets”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN

Old Prussian

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *retas, *redas, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁réh₁ (rare, sparse). Cognate with Latvian rets (rare), rēds (dialectal), Lithuanian retas, Proto-Slavic *rědъkъ (rare, thin).

Adjective

edit

rets m

  1. rare, thin