lēts

See also: lets, let's, Lets, and LETS

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *lētas, from Proto-Indo-European *le- (to let, to allow, to permit, to tolerate) (whence also Latvian lēns (slow), q.v.) with an extra suffix -to. The semantic evolution was probably: “loose, slack, tired” (“allowed to go down”) > “slow” > “light, easy” (the basic meaning in 17th-century texts) > “easy to purchase” > “cheap” (by the mid-18th century). The earlier meaning of “light, easy” can still be seen in compounds like lētticīgs (credulous; who believes easily) and in some uses of the adverbial form lēti. Cognates include Lithuanian lė̃tas (slow, calm, gentle), Latin lētum (death, end, ruin).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [lǣːts]
(file)

Adjective

lēts (lētais comparative, lētāks superlative, vislētākais adverb, lēti)

  1. cheap (that which can be bought with little money)
    lēts tērpscheap suit, outfit
    lētas konfektescheap candy
    kam dārzā bites, tam medus lētshe who has bees in (his) garden has cheap honey
  2. cheap (not demanding much money, means, etc. for its realization)
    lēta zemes apstrādāšanacheap land cultivation
    lēta ražošanacheap production, manufacture
  3. cheap (who works for little pay)
    tie tomēr bija pie strādāšanas visparocīgākie un lētākiethese (peasants) are the handiest and cheapest for work
  4. cheap (easy to do, to achieve, and therefore of little value)
    lēta uzvaracheap victory
    lēta, vīzdegunīga popularitātecheap, condescending popularity
  5. cheap, trite (ostentatious, without deeper content)
    lēta gaumecheap taste
    lēti jokicheap jokes

Declension

Antonyms

Derived terms

References

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