vārna

• vārne (archaic)

From an earlier *varna (where the intonation later caused lengthening: ar̄ > āːr), from Proto-Baltic *war- with an extra -nā, from Proto-Indo-European *war-, *wer- (“to burn; to be black”). A parallel masculine counterpart must have existed, from Proto-Baltic *war-no-, *war-nyo-; cf. Lithuanian var̃nas, Old Prussian warnis, Russian во́рон (vóron) (< Proto-Slavic *vronъ). In Latvian, a masculine form vārnis is attested only in folk tales. Cognates include Lithuanian várna, Old Prussian warne, Proto-Slavic *vorna (Old Church Slavonic врана (vrana), Russian, Ukrainian воро́на (voróna), Belarusian варо́на (varóna), Bulgarian вра́на (vrána), Czech vrána, Polish wrona), Tocharian B wrauña.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈvāːɾna]

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vārna f (4th declension)

1. crow (several species of passerine birds of genus Corvus, esp. Corvus corone and Corvus cornix, with black or grayish black feathers)

   pelēkā, melnā vārna ― gray, black crow

   vārnu ligzda ― crow's nest

   vārnu olas ― crow's eggs

   kailajos zaros sakliegdamies nometās uz naktsguļu vārnu bariņš ― on the naked branches, a small group of cawing crows came down to sleep