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Definition 2024

zēns

zēns

Latvian

Zēns

Noun

zēns m (1st declension)

  1. boy (a male child, approximately until 11 years of age)
    zēnu koris‎ ― boy choir
    zēnu apģērbi‎ ― boys' clothes
    zēnu rotaļas‎ ― boys' games
    zēnu nedarbi‎ ― boys' mischief
    zēnu skola‎ ― boys' school
    zēnu istaba‎ ― the boys' room (restroom, especially at school)
    Haris ir zēns, viņam vēl tālu līdz lielam cilvēkam, viņš daudz nesaprot‎ ― Haris is a boy, he has a long way to go to become a grown-up, he doesn't understand much
  2. young (especially adolescent) man
    sanāca vairāk nekā divdesmit vīriešu, visvairāk jauni zēni, bet arī pusmūža vīri un pat pāris sirmgalvju‎ ― more than twenty men came, mostly young boys, bet also some middle-aged men and a few seniors
    es vēl negribu uzņemties rūpes par ģimeni... es esmu pavisam zaļš zēns‎ ― I don't want to take care of the family yet... I am (still) a very green (= immature) boy
  3. boy, boyfriend (a young man in whom a woman is romantically interested)
    meitenei bija savs zēns‎ ― the girl had a boy(friend)
    no tās reizes, kad Jautrīte Raiņa vidusskolas sarīkojumā iepazinās ar Guntaru, daži sāka sačukstēties, ka Guntars esot Jautrītes zēns‎ ― from that time when Jautrīte met Guntars at the event in the Rainis middle school, some (people) started to whisper that Guntars was Jautrīte's boy (= boyfriend)
  4. (usually with an adjective or adjectival expression) boy, guy (a young man seen as having some, usually positive, quality)
    viņš ir lāga zēns‎ ― he is a nice guy
    tēvocis patiešām bija zelta zēns‎ ― uncle really was a golden boy
    vecais zēns‎ ― old boy! (used to show familiarity, friendship)

Declension

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

References

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

Etymology

A borrowing from Middle High German söhn ‎(“son”) (sȫne); cf. Sohn ‎(“son”). The e is the nearest vowel to ö in Latvian; the length probably results from the influence of dēls ‎(“son”). In an 18th-century dictionary, zēns is mentioned as “rarely used,” and only in the area around Riga and in Courland; in the 19th century, the word was still mostly used in Courland, but had already entered the literary language, as a synonym of puisis.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [zǣːns]

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