īlens

Traditionally, this word is seen as borrowed from Gothic *𐌴𐌻𐌰 (*ēla, “awl”), perhaps via Old Prussian ylo (“awl”). The Gothic e was very narrow (tense), so it was replaced by ī when borrowed. This loanword is first mentioned in 17th-century dictionaries. A more recent theory, however, connects īlens to ilknis (“fang, tusk”), ilkss (“shaft”), and with Hittite illuyanka (“dragon; snake”), where il- apparently refers to something sharp (fang, horn, stinger), in which case īlens might be a retention rather than a borrowing, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *eil-, *il-, *īl-, from *ei-, *h₁ei- (“sharp, pointed”), via a probable Proto-Baltic *īl- +‎ -ens.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [īːlæns]

• Audio:

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īlens m (1st declension)

1. awl (pointed instrument for piercing small holes)

   izdurt caurumus ar īlenu ― to pierce, prick holes with an awl

   ass ka īlens ― sharp as an awl

   dur kā ar īlenu ― it pierces as if with an awl (e.g., sharp pain)