sencis
Latvian
Etymology
From sens (“ancient”), made into a 2nd-declension noun. The c suggests a dialectal origin, from those dialects where ns > nc. Alternatively, it may have come from an earlier *sentis, via genitive *senša > senča. There may have been influence from the c in vecis (“old man”).[1]
Noun
sencis m (2nd declension, feminine form: sence)
- (usually in the plural) ancestor (ancient relatives, e.g., the originators of an ethnic group, a clan, a family)
- tāli senči ― distant ancestors
- dzimtas senči ― (family, clan) ancestors
- senču dievi ― ancestral gods
- senču kults ― ancestor worship
- (paleontology) ancestor (species of plants or animals from an earlier time period, from which modern species have evolved)
- zirga sencis ― the ancestor of the horse
- putnu senči ― the ancestors of the birds
- (colloquial) parents (syn. vecāki)
- dzīvot uz senču rēķina ― to live at (one's) parents' expense
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sencis | senči |
| genitive | senča | senču |
| dative | sencim | senčiem |
| accusative | senci | senčus |
| instrumental | senci | senčiem |
| locative | sencī | senčos |
| vocative | senci | senči |
Related terms
References
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “sens”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca [Latvian Etymological Dictionary][1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN