Latvian

Gnīda (1)

Noun

gnīda f, m (4th declension)

1. nit (lice eggs)

   gnīdas matos‎ ― nits in the hair

   galvas utis apmetas cilvēka matos; pie matiem tās pielīmē savas oliņas - gnīdas‎ ― head lice settle on human hair; and by that hair they stick their eggs: nits

   vārīja ilgi un teica, ka nu vairs neviena gnīda dzīva nebūšot palikusi‎ ― she boiled (the clothes) for a long time and (then) said that not a single living nit had remained

2. (figuratively) (also masculine, dat. gnīdam) nit, maggot (despicable, worthless person)

   tas bijis turpat kaimiņa saimnieks, īsts gnīda‎ ― that had been the neighbor, a true nit (= despicable person)

   “tu mani te nebaidi, gnīda!” tēvocis izkliedza‎ ― “so you're not afraid of me here, you maggot!” (his) uncle shouted

Declension

Usage notes

In the sense of "nit", gnīda is always feminine; in the sense of "despicable person", however, it is ambigenous. It is masculine when it refers to males and feminine when it refers to females. It is, however, always declined as a feminine noun, with the exception of its dative singular form, which is gnīdam when it refers to a male and gnīdai when it refers to a female.

References

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