ciets

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *kietas, from *keitas, from Proto-Indo-European *key- (to set in motion, to move) with an extra (adjectivizing) suffix -to-s. A parallel form with -tyo-s (*keityas, *kietyas) yielded Latvian ciešs (tight). Meaning change: “moving” > “happy, safe, healthy” > “strong, rigid” > “hard.” Cognates include Lithuanian kíetas, Sudovian kit, Old Prussian keytaro (hail, greeting), Proto-Slavic *čitь, *čitjь (Russian dialectal чи́тый (čítyj, not drunk, not having drunk), Serbo-Croatian čȉt (healthy, whole), Slovene čìt, čít (undamaged)).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [tsiɛ̂ts]
(file)

Adjective

ciets (cietais comparative, cietāks superlative, viscietākais adverb, cieti, ciet)

  1. (physics) solid (having stable form)
    cieta viela, cietvielasolid substance
    cieti ķermeņisolid bodies
    cietais kurināmaissolid fuel
    ciets agregātstāvoklissolid state
  2. hard, solid, rigid (difficult to split, crush, bend, etc.)
    ciets minerāls, metālshard, solid mineral, metal
    ciets tērauds, granītshard, solid steel, granite
    ciets diamants, asmenshard, solid diamond, blade
    ciets zīmulishard pencil (with lead that wears out slowly)
    ciets kā akmenshard, solid as rock
    visi akmeņi nebūt nav vienādi cietinot all stones are equally hard
  3. hard, solid (having a layer of rock, or snow, or ice)
    cieta augsne, grunts, pļavahard soil, ground, meadow
    ciets mālshard clay
    ciets pamatshard, soild foundation
    uzplēsti seši hektāri cietajā stepes zemēsix hectares of hard steppe land (were) broken up, plowed
  4. (of fabric, cloth) hard, solid (strong, difficult to fold or bend; made of such fabric, cloth)
    ciets audeklssolid canvas
    cieta aitādahard sheepskin
    ciets zābakshard boot
    viņš nēsāja uzkreklus ar cietām apkaklītēmhe wore a dickey with a hard collar
  5. (of furniture, cushions, etc.) hard (not soft, resistant to pressure)
    ciets dīvāns, spilvenshard sofa, pillow
    cieta gulta, atzveltnehard bed, back (of chair)
    tas krēsls man par cietuthat chair is too hard for me
  6. (of body parts, tissue) hard (difficult to bend or break)
    citie audihard tissue
    ciets kaulshard bone
    cieta ādahard skin
    cietās aukslējashard palate
    rokas bija pilnas cietu tulznu(his) hands were full of hard blisters
  7. (of hands, their skin) hard, hardened (having strong, harsh skin)
    cietas rokashard hands
    cieta plaukstahard palm (of hand)
  8. (of hair) thick, strong
    cieta bārdathick beard
    cietas ūsasthick mustache
  9. (of plants) hard (difficult to bend, squeeze, trim, prune)
    ciets koks, ozolshard tree, oak
    ciets stumbrs, zarshard trunk, branch
    ciets graudshard grain
    šo koku koksne pusotras reizes cietāka par dzelzithe wood of these trees is one and a half times harder than iron
  10. (of food) hard (difficult to bite and chew)
    cieta gaļa, maizehard meat, bread
    ciets siershard cheese
    cieta olahard (boiled) egg
  11. (of character, will; of people, their behavior) hard, tough (strong, determined, uncompromising, ruthless)
    ciets raksturshard, tough character
    cieta dabahard, tough nature
    cieta sirdshard heart (i.e., cruel, ruthless)
    viņš bija ciets cilvēkshe was a hard, tough man (lit. person)
    ciets skatienshard look
    viņa sejas izteiksme bija cieta un nepielūdzamahis facial expression was hard and relentless
  12. (of faces, their features) hard, stiff
    kad pēc vēja brāzmas viņš pacēla seju augstāk, tā bija kļuvusi pelēki cieta ka sastingusi zemewhen after the wind gust he raised his face, it had become gray hard, stiff like frozen ground
  13. (of thoughts, ideas, promisess) hard, definite, clear, inalterable (syn. ciešs)
    ciets solījumssolemn promise
    kluss vīru pulks... viss gvarda vārdos teikts; vien cietam zvērestam ceļ katrs rokuthe regiment of men (was) silent... all the words of the guard (oath) (were) said; every hand rose with one solemn oath
  14. (colloquial) rigid, definite, determined (which cannot be arbitrarily changed)
    cieta algarigid wage, salary
    cietas cenasrigid prices
  15. (of movements) hard, strong, determined
    mierigiem, cietiem soļiem viņš nāca tuvākwith calm, strong steps he came closer
    mātes skāviens ir karsts, ciets, izmisīgsmother's hug is warm, strong, desperate
  16. (of sleep) tight (syn. ciešs)
    visa nakts tad bija pavadīta cietā, veselīgā miegāthe whole night was spent in tight, healthy sleep
  17. (of water) hard (which contains salts, usually of calcium and magnesium)
    ciets ūdens mazgāšanai nav derīgshard water is not appropriate for washing
  18. (of wind, weather) strong, sharp
    jūra bija balta un ziemeļu vējš kļuva aizvien cietāksthe sea was white and the northern wind became increasingly harder, sharper
    ja priedes tā šūpojas, tad ir vētra, ciets laiks, kā saka tēvsif the pines are swaying like that, then there is a storm, hard weather, as father said / used to say
  19. (adverbial form; of people, objects) tight(ly) close, close together (syn. ciešs, cieši)
    cieti citu pie citasvery close one by the other

Usage notes

The adverbial form cieti is the one normally used adverbially; the shorter form ciet is more frequently found as a predicative adverb meaning “closed”, “shut” (cf. German zu) or to mark imperfective status with certain verbs (e.g., iet ciet with respect to perfective aiziet).

Declension

Synonyms

  • (of "hard, solid, rigid"): stings, stingrs, stīvs
  • (of "thick"; "concentrated (look)"; "strong (movement)"; "sleep"; "close together"): ciešs

Antonyms

Derived terms

References

  1. Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), ciets”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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