vaina

vaina

1. woman

• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

From Latin vēna. Compare Romansch avaina, Italian vena, Romanian vână, French veine.

• IPA^(key): /ˈβaina/

vaina f

1. vein

• (dialectal forms) vaine, vaiņa

From Proto-Baltic *wei-, *wai- (with an added suffix -nā-), from Proto-Indo-European *wei- (“to move, go ahead; to be strong”). Cognates include Lithuanian vainóti (“to criticize, to scold”) (compare archaic Lithuanian vaina (“error, transgression”)), Old Prussian etwinūt (“to blame”) (maybe a borrowing from Slavic), Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian вина (viná), Belarusian віна (viná, “fault, guilt, transgression”).[1]

• IPA^(key): [vāīna]

vaina f (4th declension)

1. fault, guilt (an offense punishable according to the law; behavior or conduct with bad consequences)

   pierādīta vaina ― proven guilt

   vainas apziņa ― awareness of guilt

   neapzināties savu vainu ― to be unaware of, not acknowledge one's guilt

   atzīt savu vainu ― to plead guilty

   noliegt savu vainu ― to deny one's guilt, to plead not guilty

   vainu mīkstinoši apstākļi ― mitigating circumstances

   vainu pastiprinoši apstākļi ― aggravating circumstances

   būt pie vainas ― to be to blame

2. defect, imperfection, flaw, fault

   viņa darbs ir bez vainas ― his work is without flaw

   tā ir maza vaina! ― this is a small flaw!

   šai drānai nav nekādas vainas ― this fabric has no flaw

   kas uzvalkam vaina? ― what is the problem with the suit?

   aparātam ir kāda vaina, ka tas nedarbojas ― the machine has some problem, it doesn't work

3. disease, ailment, wound

   viņi visas vainas ārstējot ar zāļu tējām' ― they treat all diseases with herbal teas

   sūdzēties par visādām vainām ― to complain about all kinds of ailments

   izmazgāt vainas ― to wash one's wounds

4. cause

   ja viņš nestrādā, tad tā ir tikai slinkuma vaina ― if he doesn't work, it is only because of laziness

• vaininieks, vaininiece
• vainīgs, vainīgums, vainība
  • nevainīgs, nevainīgums, nevainība
• vainot

Inherited from Latin vāgīna (“sheath”). Compare Portuguese bainha, also French gaine, Italian guaina. Cf. also Spanish vagina, a borrowing from the same source.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaina/, [ˈbai̯na]

vaina f (plural vainas)

1. (botany) pod
2. scabbard, sheath
3. case, casing
   • 2005, Vsevolod Smirnoff, Recuerdos de una astilla, page 11:

     Entre los dos yacía en el piso una vaina de cartucho de revólver.

     On the floor between the two lay a revolver cartridge case.

4. (Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, colloquial) thing, gadget
5. (Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, colloquial) hickey
6. (slang) worthless person
7. (regional) green bean

• (thing, gadget): chisme, chunche (Mexico), coso (River Plate region)
• (green bean): judía verde, poroto verde

• vainilla

• “vaina” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.