English

Verb

rets

1. third-person singular simple present indicative form of ret

Catalan

Verb

rets

1. second-person singular present indicative form of retre

Danish

Noun

rets c

1. genitive singular indefinite of ret

Latvian

Alternative forms

• (dialectal form) rēds

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *retas, from Proto-Indo-European *er-, *(e)re- ‎(“loose, sparse, rare; to break down, to fall to pieces”) (whence also irt ‎(“to disintegrate, to fall apart”), q.v.) with an extra suffix -to-s. A parallel form from the same stem with a suffix -dʰ (*redʰ-) led to Old Church Slavonic рѣдъкъ ‎(rědъkъ), Russian редкий ‎(redkij), and to Latvian dialectal rēds. Cognates include Lithuanian rẽtas^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɾæts]

Adjective

rets (def. retais, comp. retāks, sup. visretākais; adv. reti)

1. thin, sparse (formed of a number of similar elements placed at a relatively large distance from one another)

   rets priedulājs‎ ― thin, sparse pine forest

   mežs bija pietiekami rets‎ ― the forest was rather thin, sparse

   reti mati‎ ― thin hair

   reta ķemme‎ ― wide-tooth(ed) (lit. thin, sparse) comb

2. sparse (not close to one another)

   grābeklis ar retiem zariem‎ ― rake with rare, sparse prongs

   reti koki‎ ― sparse trees

3. (of fabric, cloth) thin (with gaps, spaces between the threads)

   reta auduma maisiņš‎ ― little sack of thin cloth (= having gaps)

4. (of gazes, fog, air, etc.) thin (not concentrated)

   rets kalnu gaiss‎ ― thin mountain air

   migla kļuva retāka un caurspīdīgāka‎ ― the mist became thinner and more transparent

5. (of groups of people) thin (having few members)

   viņu rindas bija kļuvušas retākas‎ ― their lines, ranks had become thinner

6. rare (of which there is only a small number)

   reti augi‎ ― rare plants

   retie ķīmiskie elementi, metāli‎ ― rare chemical elements, metals

   retas rokrakstu grāmatas‎ ― rare manuscript books

7. rare, infrequent, uncommon (not widely known, distributed, used)

   rets vārdu savienojums‎ ― rare, uncommon word combination

   rets izteiciens‎ ― rare expression

   reta tautasdziesmas melodija‎ ― rare folk tune

8. rare, uncommon (not normal, not ordinary)

   Ubāns ir viens no tiem retajiem māksliniekiem, kurš spēj atklāt skatītājam savu pasauli‎ ― Ubāns is one of those rare artists who are able to open their world to the viewer

9. (definite forms) rare one(s) (only a few, not many)

   viņa piederēja pie tiem retajiem, kas prot klausīties‎ ― she belonged to (those) rare (people) who know how to listen

   mums varoņu daudz... vien retajam uzcelts piemineklis‎ ― we have many heroes... ony to a rare one (= a few) a monument is built

10. rare, infrequent (repeated only after long intervals)

    pa retam‎ ― rarely

    rets gadījums‎ ― rare case

    retajos brīvajos vakaros māte mums lasīja‎ ― in the rare free evenings mother used to read to us

11. rare (which appears, happens infrequently)

    reti viesi‎ ― rare guests

    labs draugs ir reta manta pasaulē‎ ― a good friend is a rare treasure on earth

Declension

Synonyms

• (of "thin", "sparse"): plāns

Antonyms

• (of "thin", "sparse", "not dense", "with gaps or spaces"): blīvs, biezs
• (of "rare"): biežs

Derived terms

• retums

References

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

Old Prussian

Adjective

rets m

1. rare, thin