English

Verb

slinks

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

Latvian

Etymology

From a (still dialectally attested) verb slinkt ‎(“to creep, to crawl, to go slowly”) (compare Lithuanian sliñkti ‎(“to crawl slowly”)), from Proto-Baltic *slink-, from a reduced grade of Proto-Indo-European *slenk- ‎(“to turn, to twist, to wind; to drag oneself, to creep, to crawl”) (perhaps in confluence with Proto-Indo-European *(s)lēg-, *(s)leg- ‎(“to be languid”)). The meaning went from “to crawl, to creep” to “to move slowly, lazily,” “to be lazy,” or, for the adjective slinks, from “slow-moving” to “lazy.” Cognates include Lithuanian sliñkas.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [slīnks]

Adjective

slinks (def. slinkais, comp. slinkāks, sup. visslinkākais; adv. slinki)

1. lazy (who is given to idleness, who typically does not like, is reluctant to work, to do something)

   slinks darbinieks, talcinieks‎ ― lazy employee, helper

   slinks strādnieks, skolnieks‎ ― lazy worker, schoolchild

   slinks zirgs‎ ― lazy horse

Declension

Related terms

• slinkums
• sliņķis

References

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