trusis

trūsīs

1. dative/ablative masculine/feminine/neuter plural of trūsus

• (obsolete forms) trušis, truše

Borrowed from Belarusian трусь (trusʹ), or perhaps from Polish truś. This word is first mentioned in 17th-century dictionaries as truš, trušs, later (18th–19th centuries) in competition with other borrowings (kraliņš from Russian кролик (krolik) or kaninķenis, kaninķins from German Kaninchen). In the 19th century, the most frequent forms were trusis and trušis, also truše; only in the 20th century did the current form become dominant.^[1]

trusis m (2nd declension)

1. rabbit (esp. Oryctolagus cuniculus)

   mājas trusis ― domestic rabbit

   savvaļas trusis ― wild rabbit

   trušu vila ― rabbit fur

   trušu āda ― rabbit skin, leather

In English, rabbit is the preferred word when one does not want to distinguish rabbits from hares; in Latvian, zaķis (“hare”) is preferred, and trusis (“rabbit”) is less frequent. (Note that the Latvian Easter Bunny is in fact the Easter Hare.)

• (obsolete terms) kaninķenis, kaninķins, kraliņš

• trusene
• trusēns

• zaķis