Latvian

Kurpnieks

Noun

kurpnieks m (1st declension, feminine form: kurpniece)

1. (male) cobbler, shoemaker (craftsman who makes or repairs shoes, boots, sandals and other footwear)

   kurpnieku darbnīca‎ ― cobbler workshop

   kurpnieku meistars, māceklis‎ ― master, apprentice cobbler

   viņa skatījās uz manām kurpēm un teica, ka būšot drīz jau cauras, vajagot pie laika dot kurpniekam‎ ― she looked at my shoes and said that they would soon have holes and (that) it would be necessary to take (lit. give) them to the cobbler's

2. (usually in the plural) a game in which there is a dialogue between the participants and a person in the middle, at the end of which the person in the middle drops a stick and everybody changes places

   iet kurpniekos‎ ― to play this game (lit. to go in the cobblers)

   pa vakariem visi gāja kurpniekos un citās rotaļās‎ ― in the evenings everybody played (lit. went in the) cobblers and other games

Declension

Usage notes

The usual term for “cobbler” is kurpnieks; apavnieks is rare or official.

Synonyms

• apavnieks

References

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