Latvian

Krēsls (1)

Noun

krēsls m (1st declension)

1. chair (piece of furniture for sitting, consisting of a backrest and a single seat mounted on several, usually four, feet)

   pīts krēsls‎ ― wicker chair

   meldru krēsls‎ ― rush, reed chair

   grozāmais krēsls‎ ― swivel chair

   saliekamais krēsls‎ ― folding chair

   atpūtas krēsls‎ ― armchair (lit. resting chair)

   atzveltnes krēsls‎ ― chair with a large backrest (lit. backrest chair)

   goda krēsls‎ ― honor chair (where the honor guest will sit)

   stomatoloģiskais krēsls‎ ― dentist's chair

   elektriskais krēsls‎ ― electric chair (for executing criminals)

   bikts krēsls, biktskrēsls‎ ― confession chair, confessional

   Svētais Krēsls‎ ― Holy See (lit. Holy Chair, which the Pope sits on)

   māte atkrita krēslā un aizsedza vaigu ar priekšautu‎ ― mother fell into the chair and hid her face in (her) apron

   Andrejs un Milda lēni atlaidās mīkstajos krēslos, lai gan sēdēt nemaz negribējās‎ ― Andrejs and Milda slowly sat down on the soft (arm)chairs, though they did not feel at all like sitting

2. (construction) a structure of beams that supports the rafters and the roof of a house; roof truss

   jumta krēsls‎ ― roof chair (= truss)

Declension

Usage notes

Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca indicates this term as having a level intonation. In practice, however, it is very commonly pronounced with a broken tone, this also allows to differentiate it from krēsla ‎(“dusk, twilight”). Perhaps the switch in tone is by contamination with the Russian term кресло ‎(kréslo, “armchair”) (although the Russian language doesn't have contrastive tones the typical way vowels are realized in Russian can be perceived by Latvian speakers as a universal broken tone.)

References

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