gelbėti

Lithuanian

Etymology

From older gélbsti +‎ -ėti, akin to Old Prussian galbimai (“to assist”). Further origin unclear. Comparisson has been drawn with Proto-Germanic *helpaną (“to help”).

Verb

(standard) gélbėti (third-person present tense gélbėja, third-person past tense gélbėjo)
(dialectally) gelbė́ti (third-person present tense gelbė́ja, third-person past tense gelbė́jo)

1. (transitive) to save, to rescue
2. (transitive) to treat, to provide care (to someone in need)

   Synonym: gýdyti

3. (intransitive) to come to someone's rescue

Conjugation

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

Old Lithuanian evinces for original athematic conjugation.

Derived terms

• gelbinėti (iterative)
• gélbėtojas (“rescuer”)

Further reading

• “gelbėti”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2024
• “gelbėti”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024
• “gelbėti”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012