zinātnieks

From zināt (“to know”) +‎ -nieks. This word existed before zinātne (“science”); it originally meant “person with experience, knowledge,” “knowledgeable person.” It was first used in the modern sense (“scientist”) by J. Alunāns (dabas zinātnieks “natural scientist” in 1860; compare also valodas zinātnieks “language scientist”, used by K. Valdemārs as a synonym of lingvists). It is possible that this usage of zinātnieks influenced A. Kronvalds to coin the word zinātne.^[1]

zinātnieks m (1st declension, feminine form: zinātniece)

1. (male) scientist, scholar (highly qualified specialist doing research work in some branch of science)

   liels zinātnieks ― great scientist

   zinātnieks ar pasaules vārdu ― a scientist with a world name (= fame, renown)

   mākslas zinātnieks ― art historian (lit. scientist)

   mūzikas, literatūras zinātnieks ― music, literary scholar

   zinātnieka karjera ― a career in science (lit. a scientist's career)

   kabineta zinātnieks ― an armchair scholar (lit. a cabinet scientist)

• zinātne
• zinātnisks