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daiļš

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: dails

Latvian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From an old (unattested) adjective *dailus, which yielded two parallel forms, a yo-stem adjective (> standard daiļš) and an o-stem adjective (> dialectal dails), from Proto-Baltic *day- with an extra suffix -l, from the o-grade form of Proto-Indo-European *dey-, *doy- (to shine brightly, to glitter, to sparkle). There was some influence in the meaning of this word from a homophonous Proto-Indo-European stem *dey- (to swing, to sway, to swirl; to rush), from which the uses of daiļš to mean “quick, industrious, diligent, skilled” (mostly in folk songs or tales). Cognates include Lithuanian dailùs (pretty, beautiful, lovely, tasteful), Sanskrit दीद्यति (didyati, to shine, to glitter, to sparkle), Ancient Greek δέατο (déato, was visible, appeared, seemed), Irish river name Daol, from *doylā (shining, bright).[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [dāīʎʃ]
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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daiļš (definite daiļais, comparative daiļāks, superlative visdaiļākais, adverb daiļi)

  1. very beautiful, lovely, exquisite (corresponding to high aesthetic ideals, causng aesthetic pleasure)
    daiļš augumsbeautiful stature, body
    daiļa sejalovely, beautiful face
    daiļas rokaslovely, beautiful hands
    daiļš ziedsbeautiful, exquisite flower
    daiļais dzimumsthe beautiful, fair sex (i.e., women)
    viss daiļais cilvēka dzīvēall (that is) beautiful in human life
    visdaiļāko festivāla meiteni ievēlēs par festivāla skaistuma karalienithe most beautiful girl in the festival was chosen as the festival's beauty queen
  2. beautiful, sublime, with profound meaning
    daiļa dvēselebeautiful soul
    veidot dzīvi saskanīgu un daiļuto make (one's) life harmonious and beautiful
  3. (rare, folkloric) industrious, virtuous, good
    daiļa, daiļa tā meitiņa, kas darbiņu čakli veicgood, good is the girl who does her work diligently

Declension

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Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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References

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