arājs

Apparently a mixture of arējs (“(temporary) plowman”) and an unattested form *artājs, from art (“to plow”) +‎ -ājs. Cognates include Proto-Slavic *ortajь (archaic Russian ратай (rataj), Old Church Slavonic ра́тай (rátaj)).^[1]

arājs m (1st declension)

1. plowman (person who plows the land (with a horse-drawn plow)

   arājs stingri turēja arklu ― the plowman firmly held the plow

   arājs nāca tīrumā art ― the plowman came to the field to plow

   arājs ara un gani ganīja ― the plowman plows and the shepherds tend (the sheep)

The difference between arājs and arējs seems to be that arājs describes a profession, a permanent way of life, whereas arējs refers to someone (or some animal) who happens to be plowing now.

• arējs

• arājiņš (diminutive)

• arkls
• art, arums