Etymology

There are diverging opinions on the origin of this word. The one most likely to be true connects zirgs to the adjective žirgts ‎(“brisk, lively, alert”) (q.v.) from the (no longer in usage) verb žirgt ‎(“to liven up, to freshen up”). The original meaning would therefore have been “brisk, agile (animal),” from which “fast runner” and then “horse” (probably via “stallion,” a meaning still attested dialectally for the Lithuanian cognate). Others links zirgs to Latin grex ‎(“herd, flock”), or to Lithuanian žir̃gti, žer̃gti ‎(“to sit astraddle, to sit; to spread one's legs; to walk with one's legs raised high”), or perhaps to Lithuanian žer̃ti ‎(“to scrape, to scratch; (of horse) to paw”), Armenian ձար ‎(jar, “mane”), or to Old Norse građr ‎(“not castrated”). Cognates include Lithuanian žìrgas ‎(“good, beautiful horse; steed”), Old Prussian sirgis ‎([zirgis], “stallion”), Sudovian zirgo ‎(“horse”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [zîɾks]