šausmas

See also: šausmās

Latvian

Etymology

From an unattested verb *šaust (make (hair, feathers) stand) (compare Lithuanian šiaũsti (to dishevel, to comb upward; to raise (feathers))), from Proto-Baltic *šiaus-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱew- (to swell, to bend) (hence “protrude, ruffle, make stand”), with an extra -s. The meaning “to make (hair) stand” became in the noun šausmas “great fear, terror”.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ʃāūsmas]

Noun

šausmas f (4th declension)

  1. terror, horror (very intense fear)
    šausmu pārņemtshorror-struck
    iedvest šausmasto inspire horror, terror
    iekliegties no šausmāmto cry out in horror
    šausmu kliedzienshorror scream
    sastingt šausmāsto freeze in terror, horror
  2. terror, horror (very bad events that (may) cause intense fear)
    kara šausmasthe horror of war
    šausmu lietashorrible things, affairs
    šausmu filmahorror movie

Declension

Declension of šausmas (4th declension)
singular plural
nominative šausmas
genitive šausmu
dative šausmām
accusative šausmas
instrumental šausmām
locative šausmās
vocative šausmas

References

  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “šausmas”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca [Latvian Etymological Dictionary]‎[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN