kāsis

kāsis

See also: kasis, kaŝis, and kašīs

Latvian

Kāsis

Etymology

The origin of this word is not clear. It may stem from Proto-Indo-European *ḱāk-, *ḱak- (“branch, pole”), via metathesis (from *kāḱ- to Proto-Baltic *kāš- to Latvian kāsis), with the original meaning being “bent branch.” Cognates would then include Lithuanian dialectal kóšis, and maybe also Sanskrit काशिः (kāśiḥ, “hollow of the hand”), if indeed its older meaning was “meander,” “bent, crooked one.”

Proto-Indo-European *ḱāk-, *ḱak- without metathesis would have yielded the dialectal Latvian term saķis (“bifurcated ending”), Lithuanian šakà (“branch”), and Sanskrit शाखा (śākhā, “branch”).[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kàːsis]

Noun

kāsis m (2nd declension)

1. hook (object with a curved, sharp tip used for suspending or hanging)

   dzelzs, tērauda kāsis ― iron, steel hook

   uzkabināt uz kāša ― to hang (something) on a hook

   pakārt katlu kāsi virs uguns ― to hang the pothook over the fire

   nocelt podu no kāša ― to lift, remove a pot from the hook

2. stick, bar with a hook or crooked tip

   izvilkt ar kāsi ūdens spaini no akas ― to pull a bucket of water from the well with a hook

3. (something having) the form or shape of a hook

   dzērves, zosis un pīles lido kāsī vai rindā ― cranes, geese and ducks fly in a hook or in a row

   saliekt stiepli kāsī ― to bend the wire into a hook

4. (slang) joint, a marijuana cigarette

Declension

Declension of kāsis (2nd declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	kāsis	kāši
accusative (akuzatīvs)	kāsi	kāšus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	kāša	kāšu
dative (datīvs)	kāsim	kāšiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	kāsi	kāšiem
locative (lokatīvs)	kāsī	kāšos
vocative (vokatīvs)	kāsi	kāši

Synonyms

• āķis
• (stick, bar): ķeksis

Derived terms

• kāškrusts, kāšu krusts

References

1. Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “kāsis”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN