Latvian

Adjective

bāls (def. bālais, comp. bālāks, sup. visbālākais; adv. bāli)

1. (of people) pale (with lighter, whiter color on the face or skin than normal; without redness; also, implicitly, unhealthy)

   slimniekam ir bāla seja‎ ― the patient has a pale face

   bāls kā audekls, krīts, drēbe, līķis, nāve‎ ― pale like a canvas, chalk, cloth, a corpse, death (= very pale)

   bērns auga, bija bāls kā pagrabā uzdīdzis stāds‎ ― the boy grew, he was pale as a plant grown in the basement

   spoguli paskatījies, viņš vairs nepazina sevi: bāls, kā no slimības gultas piecēlies cilvēks iekritušām acīm raudzījās viņam pretim... tā cilvēka vaigos vairs nebija sārtuma‎ ― looking at the mirror, he could not recognize himself anymore: a person pale as one who stood up from a sick bed, with hollow eyes, looked at him... on that person's cheeks there was no redness

2. pale, light (not having brightness, not having bright colors)

   bāli pelēki mākoņi‎ ― pale gray clouds

   kombinēt spilgtas un bālas krāsas‎ ― to combine bright and pale colors

   mazas puķītes ar bāliem ziediem‎ ― small plants with pale flowers

   aiz loga stāv bālā miglas siena‎ ― standing outside the window was the pale wall of fog

3. pale, dim, dull, faint (without brightness)

   bāls mēness‎ ― the pale moon

   platā, zemā maizes krāsnī vēl gailējas bālas aizkura ogles‎ ― in the wide, low bread oven some pale (= faint) kindling coal

   mākoņu spraugās šur un tur iemirgojās bālas zvaigznes‎ ― in the cracks in the clouds here and there (a few) pale (= faint) stars shone

4. (usually of works of art) weak, poor, not interesting (without bright, interesting features)

   loma ir neizstrādāta, bāla‎ ― the role is undeveloped, pale (= weak)

   bālas un nenozīmīgas romāna nodaļas‎ ― pale (= weak) and insignificant novel chapters

   pirmajās izrādēs vēl ir bālas un sasteigtas vietas‎ ― in the first performances there still are pale (= weak) and premature places (= parts)

   dzejolis ir bāls un nekā jauna lasītājam nedod‎ ― the verse is pale (= weak) and gives nothing new to the reader

Declension

Synonyms

• (of "pale, light"): gaišs
• (of "dim, dull, faint"): blāvs, krēslains

Derived terms

• bālā mušmire
• balēt, bālēt, balot
• bālgans
• bālums

References

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