Etymology

Presumably from earlier *latuvis or *latavis, apparently from a proper name *Latuva or *Latava, applying to some region or river (cf. similar river names in Lithuania: Latavà, Latuvà, also Lãtupis. The initial element Lat-, also found in latgalis ‎(“Latgalian”), may itself have come from an old river name *Lata, perhaps from Proto-Baltic *lat-, from Proto-Indo-European *lat-, *let-, *lot- ‎(“to flow”), reflected in Ancient Greek λάταξ ‎(látax, “drop”), Old Irish laith ‎(“liquid; swamp”) (< *lati), lathach ‎(“silt, mud”) (< *latàkā), Old Norse leþja ‎(“clay; dregs, sludge”), Old High German letto ‎(“clay”). There are other river and lake names in Europe with a possibly related element lat-, let- in them (Letes, Late, Latupi, Lator patak, Latorica, Lataná). The term latvis, mentioned since the 17th century, was in principle replaced by latvietis already in the 19th century, but was reintroduced into the standard language from poetry. Cognates include Lithuanian lãtvis, Russian латыш ‎(latyš), Polish lotysz, German Lette, English Lett, Estonian läti, Finnish lätti.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [latvis]