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Definition 2024


mežs

mežs

Latgalian

Noun

mežs

  1. forest

Latvian

Mežs

Etymology

From earlier *mežas, from parallel forms Proto-Baltic *medya-s and *medis (genitive *meža, also yielding *meža-s by analogy), from Proto-Indo-European *medʰi-, *medʰyo- (middle; in-between). The original meaning was “(that which is) in the middle, in-between” > “forest” (since long ago villages were like little islands between stretches of forest, “what is between (villages)” = “forest”). Cognates include Lithuanian mẽdis (tree, wood), dialectal mẽdžias (tree, forest), Old Prussian median (forest), Sudovian mejdo (tree) (< *mēdo), Proto-Slavic *medya, *medyu (Russian межа́ (mežá, balk, unplowed strip of land; border; (dial.) little forest), ме́жду (méždu, between, in-between), Belarusian, Ukrainian межа́ (mežá, balk; border; line), Bulgarian межда́ (meždá), Czech mez, Polish miedza (balk; border)), Old Irish mide (middle), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃 (midjis), Old High German mitti, German Mitte, English middle, Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos), Latin medius. [1]

Pronunciation

Noun

mežs m (1st declension)

  1. forest (dense collection of trees and bushes on a stretch of land)
    priežu, egļu mežs ― pine, fir forest
    stādīt mežu ― to plant a forest
    meža zemenesforest (= wild) strawberries
    meža zvēriforest (= wild) animals
    meža fauna, floraforest fauna, flora
    meža pļavaforest meadow
    meža klajumsforest clearing
    meža cirtējs, mežcirtējs ― logger (lit. forest chopper)
    meža ugunsgrēksforest fire
    meža aizsardzībaforest protection
    mežā aug koki, krūmi un zem tiem dažādi sīki augi ― in the forest trees and bushes grow, and under them (also) several (kinds of) small plants

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

  • medīt
  • mednis

References

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