koldūnas

Lithuanian

Etymology

Uncertain. Among different sources:

• Ultimately derived from Old French chaudun and Medieval Latin caldūmen (“animal intestines”), via Middle High German kaldūne and later Polish kałdun. Compare German Kaldaunen (“tripe, guts”).
• Borrowed from Tatar [script needed] (kundum), a type of related dumpling that was traditionally prepared by Lipka Tatars.
• Possibly yet related to or derived from Russian колду́н (koldún, “wizard, sorcerer”), a native Slavic formation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔɫˈduːnɐs/

Noun

koldū̃nas m (plural koldūnai) stress pattern 2

1. (often in the plural) pelmeni, kalduny, dumplings

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with kaldūnas (“strings”) or kaltūnas (“unkempt hair”). Some sources claim that the former is related to koldūnas, however this is semantically challenging.

Declension

Declension of koldū̃nas

	singular (vienaskaita)	plural (daugiskaita)
nominative (vardininkas)	koldū̃nas	koldū̃nai
genitive (kilmininkas)	koldū̃no	koldū̃nų
dative (naudininkas)	koldū̃nui	koldū̃nams
accusative (galininkas)	koldū̃ną	koldūnùs
instrumental (įnagininkas)	koldūnù	koldū̃nais
locative (vietininkas)	koldūnè	koldū̃nuose
vocative (šauksmininkas)	koldū̃ne	koldū̃nai

Descendants

• →? Belarusian: калду́н (kaldún)
• → Polish: kołdun

Further reading

• “koldūnas”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2024
• “koldūnas”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024