English

Zea mays (maize, corn)

Wikispecies

Noun

maize ‎(uncountable)

1. Corn; a type of grain of the species Zea mays.
   • 1972, Lytle Robinson, chapter 5, in Edgar Cayceʼs Story of the Origin and Destiny of Man, USA: Berkley Publishing Corporation, page 106:

     A fundamental creative act of American man was the development of maize. For it was maize that made possible and sustained the whole Peruvian civilization as well as Mexican and Central American ones. Exactly where it originated is not known, but corn was found in pre-Mayan graves dating to 3000 B.C.

Synonyms

• (Zea mays): corn (US English, Canadian English); green corn, Indian corn, sugar corn, sweet corn

Translations

Anagrams

• zamie

Latvian

Maize

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *maiž-, an ablaut variant of Proto-Baltic *miež- (whence Latvian mieži ‎(“barley”)), from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ-, probably from the stem *h₂meh₁- ‎(“to cut; to mow”) modified into *mey-, and with an added element *ǵ (whence Proto-Baltic *ž, whence Latvian z). Cognates include Old Prussian mayse ‎(“maize, barley”) (misspelled as wayse in the 16th-century source), Old Irish maiz- ‎(“to sow”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [màjzɛ]

Noun

maize f (5th declension)

1. bread (foodstuff, baked from wheat, rye, sometimes corn)

   kviešu, rudzu maize‎ ― wheat, rye bread

   neraudzēta maize‎ ― unleavened bread

   maizes klaips, šķēle‎ ― loaf, slice of bread

   maizes garoza‎ ― bread crust

   maizes zupa‎ ― bread soup

   cept maizi‎ ― to bake bread

   maizes mīkla‎ ― bread dough

   maizes ceptuve‎ ― bakery (lit. bread baking place)

   maizes veikals‎ ― bakery (lit. bread shop)

   maizes krāsns‎ ― bread oven

   apziest maizi ar sviestu‎ ― spread butter on bread

   ēst maizi ar desu‎ ― to eat bread with sausage

   focaccia ir viena no populārākajām itāļu maizēm‎ ― focaccia is one of the most popular Italian breads

2. bread dough

   mīcīt maizi‎ ― to knead bread

   maize rūgst‎ ― the bread (dough) is fermenting

3. (poetic) cereals, cereal grains, especially rye, wheat

   priecīgākā diena, kad klētī sāk smaržot jaunā maize‎ ― joyful day, when the barn starts to smell like new bread (= wheat)

4. (figuratively) food, nutrition

   viņš var ēst tēva maizi bez kādām rūpēm‎ ― he can eat his father's bread without any worries

5. (figuratively) essential, necessary element

   metāls ir rūpniecības maize‎ ― metal is the bread of industry

6. (figuratively) livelihood, means of supporting oneself; work

   J. Vītols bija atradis darbu un maizi Pēterpilī‎ ― J. Vītols had found work and bread in Pēterpils (St. Petersburg)

   ja kāds aiziet citā maizē: zinātnieka vai inženiera, vai mākslinieka maizē...‎ ― if someone goes into another bread (= profession): the scientific or engineering, or the artistic bread (= profession)...

Declension

Derived terms

• baltmaize, balta maize
• maiznīca
• maiznieks, maizniece
• rupjmaize, rupja maize
• sviestmaize

References

1. ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “maize”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7