akmens

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *akmō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱ-mō, *h₂éḱ-h₂-men (whence also asmens, originally a parallel form to akmens, created by a different development of *ḱ, perhaps due to Proto-Indo-European dialectal differences), from the stem *aḱ-, *h₂éḱ- (“sharp, pointy, angular; stone”) with an extra element -men. Cognates include Lithuanian akmuõ, genitive akmeñs, Sudovian akmi, Hittite aku (“sharp stone”), Sanskrit अश्मन् (aśman, “stone, rock, sky”), Avestan asman (asman, “stone, sky”), Ancient Greek ἄκμων (ákmōn, “anvil”), ἀκμή (akmḗ, “spike, edge, blade”); with reduction (zero grade) of the stem (*h₂éḱ-h₂-men > Proto-Slavic *kamen ~ *kamy “stone”), also Belarusian, Russian камень (kamenʹ), Ukrainian камінь (kámin'), Bulgarian камен (kámen), Czech kámen, Polish kamień.[1]

According to more recent analyses, the corresponding form may have been *akmō all the way up to Eastern Baltic unity, thus identical to the Proto-Balto-Slavic form.

akmens m (2nd declension, irregular nominative, genitive)

1. stone, rock (non-metallic solid mineral; a piece of such mineral)

   ass, šķautņaina akmens ― sharp, angular stone

   akmens šķembas ― crushed stone

   akmens slabs, plāksne ― stone pillar, plate

   akmens klons, sienas, bruģis ― stone floor, walls, pavement

   mest akmeni ― to throw a stone

   lauzt akmeņus ― to break stones, rocks

   smags ka akmens ― heavy as a rock

   ciets ka akmens ― hard as a rock

   krīt ka akmens ― to fall like a rock

   akmens laikmets ― the stone age (in prehistory)

2. (in the genitive, used as adjective) hard; indifferent, unfeeling, unrelenting, unshakable

   akmens sirds ― heart of stone

   gleznotājs ar nekustīgu akmens seju bija atlaidies atzveltnes krēslā ― the painter with the immobile, stone face had let himself down on the armchair

3. precious stone, also an imitation of a precious stone

   rets akmens ― rare (gem)stone

   īsti akmeņi ― real, genuine (gem)stone

   gredzens ar akmeni ― ring with a (precious) stone

   pulkstenis ar piecpadsmit akmeņiem ― a clock with fifteen gems

4. (medicine, anatomy) stone, calculus (a hard, usually saline, formation in the body)

   žults akmeņi ― gall stones

   zobu akmens, zobakmens ― tartar (lit. teeth stone)

   nieru akmeņi veidojas nieru bļodiņās ― kidney stones are formed in the renal pelvis

5. residue left in certain objects

   katla akmens ― boiler stone (= mineral deposits on boiler walls resulting from boiling water)

• (of "earthen material"): ieži
• (of "rock", "boulder"): klints, laukakmens
• (of "precious stone"): dārgakmens