ģints

== Latvian == === Etymology === Traditionally considered borrowed from Lithuanian genti̇̀s (“family, kin group, clan, tribe; relative”). But the Lithuanian form has en instead of in; in occurs only in some Eastern Lithuanian dialects. Also, in the 17th century, Latvian forms with in are attested in Semigallia (Zemgale), agreeing with the [in] in Old Prussian gyntos (“men, husbands”); it may therefore be that ģints was originally not a borrowing but an old Curonian word which later spread from Western Latvia to Semigallia. Note that older Semigallian dialects sometimes conserved initial ģ (> dz in standard Latvian): cf. place names like Ģintumi or Ģinuļi. If this is the case, then ģints, like Lithuanian genti̇̀s, reflects Proto-Indo-European *ǵen- (< *ǵenh₁-) “to create,” “to give birth” (via an unaltered Proto-Baltic *gint-, where the initial g, instead of ž, results from either the influence of the related stem *gʷem-, whence also dzemdēt “to give birth,” or from conservative dialectal variants). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ɟìnts] === Noun === ģints f (6th declension) (history, anthropology) family, kin group, clan (a primitive unit of social organization, based on blood relations and lineage from a common ancestor) patriarhālā ģints ― patriarchal family ģints iekārta ― family order, organization, system ģints sabiedrība ― familiar society (i.e., composed of families) mātes ģints ― maternal, matriarchal family (where descent goes through the mother's line) tēvas ģints ― paternal, patriarchal family (where descent goes through the father's line) (poetic) people (group of people with common interests, ideas, goals, viewpoints) bet stāv pats nams! viņš dibināts uz klints, / un viņu sargā jaunā darba ģints ― but the house itself stands! it is founded upon a rock, / and it is protected by the young working people atceries, atceries varoņu ģinti, / ugunīs gāja tie vārtus tev vērt ― remember, remember the hero people, / they walked on fire to open the gates for you (biology, taxonomy) genus (a group of species) dzimtas iedala ģintīs... zaķu dzimtā ir divas ģintis: trušu ģints un zaķu ġints ― families are divided into genera... in the hare family (Leporidae) there are two genera: the rabbit genus (Oryctolagus) and the hare genus (Lepus) zemeņu ģintī izšķiram dārza zemeņu, meža zemeņu un spradzeņu sugas ― in the strawberry genus we distinguish the garden strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa), the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) and the spradzene (Fragaria viridis) species ==== Declension ==== ==== Synonyms ==== (of "family"): ģimene (of "household," "family + servants"): saime (of "extended family," "kin group"): dzimta (dated term): famīlija === References ===