Latvian

Adjective

svešs (def. svešais, comp. svešāks, sup. vissvešākais; adv. sveši)

1. (of people) unknown, foreign (which one has not met before)

   svešs zēns‎ ― unknown boy

   sveša sieviete‎ ― unknown woman

   sveša tauta‎ ― unknown, foreign people

   sanākuši sveši ļaudis‎ ― unknown people (= strangers) have come

   vairākus no sanāksmes dalībniekiem Tauriņš pazīst, bet ir arī sveši, kurus viņš redz pirmo reizi‎ ― Tauriņš knows several of the people in the meeting, but there are also strangers, whom he sees (now) for the first time

   Ieviņu sūtīt pie saimniekiem ganos Līzei bija žēl, meitene arvien vēl no svešiem baidījās‎ ― Līze didn't want to send Ieviņa (little Eve) to the landlord's shepherds, the little girl was always so afraid of strangers

2. (of objects, abstractions) foreign, of others (belonging to unknown people;belonging to other people)

   svešas mantas‎ ― property of others

   sveša automašīna‎ ― someone else's car

   svešs apģērbs‎ ― someone else's clothes

   svešas šūnas‎ ― foreign cells (from some other body)

   dzīvot, būt svešā maizē‎ ― to live, to be on someone else's bread (= to live from someone else's resources)

   svešs kažoks nesilda‎ ― someone else's coat is not warm (proverb)

   daudz es esmu mācījusies no svešām kļūdām?!‎ ― have I learned a lot from the mistakes of strangers (= others)?

   ir cilvēki, kuri nevar vienaldzīgi paiet garām svēšam bēdām‎ ― there are people who cannot indifferently pass by the misfortune of others

   es nezinu neko labāku par godīgu darbu; maniem pirkstiem nekad naw pielipis ne santīms svešas naudas‎ ― I know nothing better than honest work; in my hands there has never been even one cent of someone else's money

3. of others; unrelated (not part of one's extended family)

   audzināt svešu bērnu‎ ― to raise someone else's child (= a child unrelated to those who raise him/her)

4. (of objects, places, phenomena) unknown, unfamiliar, strange, foreign (with which one has no previous experience, of which one has no previous knowledge)

   svešs novads‎ ― unknown, unfamiliar region

   sveša pilsēta‎ ― unknown city

   sveša melodija‎ ― unknown, unfamiliar melody

   svešas paražas‎ ― strange, foreign, alien customs

   sveša valoda‎ ― foreign, alien language

   nonākt svešā vietā‎ ― to come to an unknown place

   iejusties svešos apstakļos‎ ― to get into strange, unfamiliar circumstances

   Annele pakāpas augstāk skatīties svešo apkārtni‎ ― Annele climbed up to have a look at the unknown surroundings

   vecā Sīmaņa nebeidzamie nostāsti par svešām zemēm puikam bija uzdzinuši zināšanu slāpes‎ ― old Sīmanis' endless tales of foreign lands had driven the boys' thirst for knowledge

   jā, mājās... kur vēl ir tik labi?... bet to cilvēks tā īsti saprot tikai tad, kad liktenis viņu izmētājis pa svešām malām, kur nav ne māju, ne draugu, ne dzīves siltuma‎ ― yes, home... what is so good (as home)?... but people only really understand that when destiny throws them in foreign places, where there is no home, no friend, no warmth

5. unfamiliar, strange, unusual (which is perceived as unknown, different)

   tīri tāds pazīstams ceļš; būtu diena, tad jau pazītu, bet tumsā dažreiz pašam sava māja liekas sveša‎ ― a clearly well-known path; if it were day, he would have known it, but in the darkness often even one's own house seems unfamiliar

   Nadīna nedzirdēja; viņa klausījās savas satrauktās sirds dunoņā: tā bija sveša, gluži kā nebūtu pašas sirds‎ ― Nadīna didn't hear; she was listening to her anxious hearts' rumbles: it was strange, as if it weren't her own heart

6. (of people) strange, foreign (with whom one shares no interests, no friendship, no spiritual connection)

   ilūzijas bija zudušas, bet patiesība izrādījās tāda, itin nekā viņiem nav kopīga; viņi - pilnīgi sveši cilvēki‎ ― the illusions were gone, and truth showed itself, they had nothign in common; they (were) fully foreign people (to each other)

   mani vecāki izšķīrās, un, kad māte apprecējās otrreiz, es viņai kļuvu vēl svešāka, varbūt tādēļ, ka ļoti izskatījos pēc tēva‎ ― my parents divorced, and, when (my) mother married again, I became even more foreign to her, maybe because I took very much after (my) father

7. foreign, alien (not natural, not typical, not normal to someone; not acceptable to someone)

   skaudības jūtas viņam ir svešas‎ ― feelings of envy are foreign to him (= he does not feel envy)

   Gētem, kam dzīves jēga bija pati dzīve, Dantes viņpasaules mistika bija sveša‎ ― Dante's otherworldly mystique was foreign to Goethe, to whom the meaning of life was life itself

   šie cilvēki visi bija kara lietām sveši, cerējuši nekad savā mūžā nāves ieročus rokā neņemt‎ ― these people were all foreign to the affairs of war, (they) had hoped never in their lives to have to take weapons in (their) hands

Declension

Synonyms

• (of "unknown, unfamiliar"): nepazīstams
• (of "stange"): neparasts

Antonyms

• (of "unknown, unfamiliar"): pazīstams
• (of "without spiritual connection"): intīms, tuvs

Derived terms

• svešāds
• svešatne
• svešinieks, svešiniece
• svešums
• svešvaloda
• svešvārds

References

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