milzis

Latvian

FWOTD – 9 January 2014

Milzis (1)

Etymology

Derived from the verb milzt (“to swell, to grow, to increase”), present tense melzu, from Proto-Baltic *melž-, *milž-, from Proto-Indo-European *melǵʰ, *ml̥ǵʰ-, from a stem *mel- (“big, strong”), whence also Latvian dialectal milns (“many, much, a lot”), Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very, a lot”), perhaps Latin melior (“better”). Cognates include Lithuanian mil̃žinas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mîlzis]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

milzis m (2nd declension, feminine form: milze)

1. (folklore, mythology) giant (very large, supernaturally strong being)

   ļauns milzis ― evil giant

   milža spēks ― a giant's strength

   milžu cīņa ― fight, clash of giants

   milzis skatījās uz puiku kā suns uz skudru, kura rāpo viņam starp izstieptām ķepām ― the giant looked at the boy like a dog at an ant that crawls between his outstretched legs

2. giant (very large person, animal or plant)

   vislielākais milzis bijis 2,8 metru augumā ― the largest giant was 2.8 meters tall

   ozols bija īsts milzis ― the oak was a real giant

   vilku milzis ― giant wolf, wolf giant

3. (figuratively) giant (extraordinarily talented person, above others in the same field of activity)

   gara milzis ― artistic (lit. spiritual) giant (= outstanding artist)

   Mēdeja - viens no sarežģītākajiem sieviešu tēliem... antīkās dramaturģijas milža Eiripīda traģēdijā ― Medea is one of the most complex female characters... in the tragedy by Euripides, the giant of ancient dramaturgy

   sevišķi tuvas attiecības Čehovam izveidojas ar Maksimu Gorkiju, Ļevu Tolstoju un citiem tā laika gara milžiem ― Tchekov estrablished especially close relations with Maksim Gorki, Lev Tolstoy and other contemporary spiritual giants

4. giant (a very large object, building, mountain, etc.)

   Āfrikas milzis Kilimandžāro ― Kilimanjaro, the giant of Africa

   kombināts nodrošina ar sērskābi visas Bulgārijas rūpniecības nozares... šo rūpniecības milzi uzcēla vienā gadā ― the plant will provide the whole Bulgarian industrial sector with sulphuric acid... this industrial giant was built in one year

5. (astronomy) giant (very large star with high absolute luminosity)

   sarkanie milži ― red giants

Declension

Declension of milzis (2nd declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	milzis	milži
accusative (akuzatīvs)	milzi	milžus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	milža	milžu
dative (datīvs)	milzim	milžiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	milzi	milžiem
locative (lokatīvs)	milzī	milžos
vocative (vokatīvs)	milzi	milži

Synonyms

• (of "large mythical being"): gigants
• (of "very large person"): milzenis, gigants

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of "large mythical being"”): rūķis
• (antonym(s) of “of "very large person"”): punduris
• (antonym(s) of “of "very large star"”): punduris, pundurzvaigzne

Derived terms

• milzenis, milzene
• milzīgs, milzīgums

Related terms

• milzt
• milzu, milzum, milzums