zēns

See also: zens and Zens

Latvian

Zēns

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle High German söhn (“son”) (sȫne); cf. Sohn (“son”). The e is the nearest vowel to ö in Latvian; the length probably results from the influence of dēls (“son”). In an 18th-century dictionary, zēns is mentioned as “rarely used,” and only in the area around Riga and in Courland; in the 19th century, the word was still mostly used in Courland, but had already entered the literary language, as a synonym of puisis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [zǣːns]

Noun

zēns m (1st declension)

1. boy (a male child, approximately until 11 years of age)

   zēnu koris ― boy choir

   zēnu apģērbi ― boys' clothes

   zēnu rotaļas ― boys' games

   zēnu nedarbi ― boys' mischief

   zēnu skola ― boys' school

   zēnu istaba ― the boys' room (restroom, especially at school)

   Haris ir zēns, viņam vēl tālu līdz lielam cilvēkam, viņš daudz nesaprot ― Haris is a boy, he has a long way to go to become a grown-up, he doesn't understand much

2. young (especially adolescent) man

   sanāca vairāk nekā divdesmit vīriešu, visvairāk jauni zēni, bet arī pusmūža vīri un pat pāris sirmgalvju ― more than twenty men came, mostly young boys, bet also some middle-aged men and a few seniors

   es vēl negribu uzņemties rūpes par ģimeni... es esmu pavisam zaļš zēns ― I don't want to take care of the family yet... I am (still) a very green (= immature) boy

3. boy, boyfriend (a young man in whom a woman is romantically interested)

   meitenei bija savs zēns ― the girl had a boy(friend)

   no tās reizes, kad Jautrīte Raiņa vidusskolas sarīkojumā iepazinās ar Guntaru, daži sāka sačukstēties, ka Guntars esot Jautrītes zēns ― from that time when Jautrīte met Guntars at the event in the Rainis middle school, some (people) started to whisper that Guntars was Jautrīte's boy (= boyfriend)

4. (usually with an adjective or adjectival expression) boy, guy (a young man seen as having some, usually positive, quality)

   viņš ir lāga zēns ― he is a nice guy

   tēvocis patiešām bija zelta zēns ― uncle really was a golden boy

   vecais zēns ― old boy! (used to show familiarity, friendship)

Declension

Declension of zēns (1st declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	zēns	zēni
accusative (akuzatīvs)	zēnu	zēnus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	zēna	zēnu
dative (datīvs)	zēnam	zēniem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	zēnu	zēniem
locative (lokatīvs)	zēnā	zēnos
vocative (vokatīvs)	zēn	zēni

Synonyms

• (of "male child"): puika, puisēns, puisītis, zeņķis
• (of "young man"): jaunietis, jauneklis, puika, puisis

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of "male child"”): meitene, meitenīte, skuķēns
• (antonym(s) of “of "young man"”): meita, meitene, skuķis, skuķe

Related terms

• zeņķis