žemaitis

From žẽmas (“nether”) +‎ -ai̇̃tis, patronymical suffix similar to also descent by locality indicating suffix -iẽtis. Partly comes as a retreatment or dialectal type of German forms such as Samaythen (as seen in for example Jurbarkas - Georgenburg), Samogitian from *sam-g- + -ite. Compare also Semigalian. Cognate to Sami, Lithuanian žmogùs (“man”), Polish Żmudź (“Samogitian”), Sambia (German Samland (“Sambia”). For Lithuanian suffixes -aitis and -ietis, probably considerable is an alternation of /ai/ and /ie/ as in roots of Lithuanian káimas (“hamlet”), Old Prussian kaims (“hamlet”) and Lithuanian kiẽmas (“court, hamlet”), Latvian ciems (“hamlet”). Alternatively or otherwise could be understood as a derivative of Samland and it's reconstructional form *Sam-au, what is suggested by a reference of the patronymical suffix -aitis to landname suffixes -ava, -uva or slavic family, gens or placename suffix -ov- and by corresponding areas of historical language spread. Also consider interlinguistic pairs pertaining to the region as in Litauen - Letland(ia), Nadrovia - "netherland", possibly Sambia (Samland) and Samland, possibly Karšuva (as in Karšuvos giria (Curonian woods)) and Curland (Curonia). A thus suggested reconstructional form *Sam-au would possibly be supported by Lithuanian and Latvian versus Old Prussian pair of a diphthong /au/ to /aa/ interlinguistic or/and interdialectal alternation (maybe only when under stress) as in saulė (sun) or saule and sale - Žemaitis versus *Samauith which in its turn could be supported by also pertaining to the part of country name Ziemowit or Semovit. For a suffix -it-, compare Moscowite, also for example Old Prussian Tilsit. More at Samogitian.

• IPA^(key): [ʒʲɛˈmɐɪˑtʲɪs]
• Hyphenation: že‧mai‧tis

žemai̇̃tis m (plural žemai̇̃čiai, feminine žemaitė) stress pattern 2

1. Samogitian (person from Samogitia)

   Hypernym: lietùvis

   Coordinate terms: aukštai̇̃tis, dzū̃kas, suvalkiẽtis, lietùvininkas

• “žemaitis”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2025
• “žemaitis”, in Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of common Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, n.d.
• “žemaičiai”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2025
• “žemaičiai” in Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia)

žemaitis m (plural žemaitē)

1. Samogitian (person from Samogitia)