zelts

From Proto-Baltic *želtas (“gold”), itself from *žel-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“yellow; gleam; to shine”) or through the later root *ǵʰl̥-tó-m (“gold”) derived from the same source. (From a variant *gʰel-, *gʷʰel- comes Latvian dzeltens (“yellow”), which was also the original meaning of the adjectival form of zelts.) Cognates include Lithuanian dialectal želtas (“golden, blond”), Old Prussian sealtmeno ( [zealtmeno], from *zēltmeno, “oriole (“yellow bird”)”), Proto-Slavic *zolto (Old Church Slavonic злато (zlato), Ukrainian зо́лото (zóloto), Belarusian зо́лата (zólata), Bulgarian злато́ (zlató), Czech zlato, Polish złoto), Sanskrit हरि (hari, “to be yellow, green”), Proto-Germanic *gulþą (Old Norse gull, Old High German gold, German Gold, Dutch goud, Swedish guld, English gold); compare also Persian زر‎ (zar), Kurdish zêrr[1]

• IPA^(key): [zæ̀lts]

zelts m (1st declension)

1. gold (metallic chemical element, with atomic number 79.)

   tīrradņa zelts ― gold nuggets

   zelta rūda ― gold ore

   zelta hlorīds ― gold chloride

   zelta monēta, gredzens, pulkstenis, medaļa ― gold coin, ring, clock, medal

2. golden (having the color of gold)

   zelta dzeltens, zeltdzeltens ― golden yellow

   zelta zivtiņa ― golden fish

3. golden (very good, top quality, the best of its kind)

   viņš ir zelts, ne cilvēks ― he is gold, not a person

   zelta cilvkēs ― golden person

   zelta vārdi ― golden words

   zelta dzīve ― golden life

   zelta kāzas ― golden anniversary (50th wedding anniversary)

• zeltains