varvėti

Lithuanian

Etymology

A denominative verb based off of var̃vas (“drop (of liquid)”), which appears to trace back to a reduplicative formation *wor-wos. The further identity of the reduplicated root is unclear:

• Smoczynski takes the formation to be from an o-grade of Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, notice”), assuming the same semantic shift that characterizes varýti (“to drive out”); thus, "(that which is) driven out" > "droplet".
• Otrębski takes the formation to be from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁r- (“water”); compare Avestan 𐬬𐬁𐬭𐬀 (vāra, “rain”), Sanskrit वार् (vār, “water”).
• Yakulis is skeptical of Otrebski's derivation morphologically, due to there being no other putative reduplicative descendants of *weh₁r-, and instead considers the formation to be from a Lithuanian-specific series of ideophones, comparing virvė́ti (“to chirp, ring”) and vervė́ti (“to bark obstinately”).

Verb

varvė́ti (third-person present tense var̃va, third-person past tense varvė́jo)

1. to drip, ooze
2. to become wet, damp, drenched, etc.

Declension

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

Related terms

• varvẽklis (“icicle”)