valsts

Latvian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *walˀstís, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wolh₁dʰh₁-ti-s, from *h₂welh₁dʰh₁-, from *h₂welh₁- (“to rule”). Morphologically from valdīt (“to reign, to rule”) (*vald-tis > *valstis > valsts; compare dialectal form valdzs).

The original meaning was “power, domination”; by the 18th century, this had been changed to “parish, fief, administrative district”, with significant geographic variation well into the 19th century. Only in the 20th century did the current meaning become stable. Cognates include Lithuanian val̃sčius (“district, parish, township”) (< *vald-tius, dialectal val̃stis), valstýbė (“country, state”), Proto-Slavic *volstь (“possession”) from *volsti (“to reign, to rule”).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [vàlsts]
(file)

Noun

valsts f (6th declension)

  1. state, country (a sovereign polity with a government; the territory of this polity)
    demokratiska, monarhiska valsts ― democratic, monarchic state
    valsts vara ― state power
    valsts teritorija ― country (lit. state territory)
    valsts galva ― head of state
    valsts pārvalde ― government (lit. state administration)
    valsts iekšējās lietas ― a country's internal affairs
    valsts iestāde ― public (lit. state) authority
    valsts budžets ― state budget
    valsts īpašums ― state property
    valsts monopols ― state monopoly
    valsts valoda ― official (lit. state) language
    valsts sekretārs, kanclers ― secretary, chancellor of state
    valsts drošība ― state security
    Baltijas valstis ― Baltic countries
    nepievienojušās valstis ― developing countries
    Amerikas Savienotās Valstis ― United States of America
  2. (taxonomy) kingdom (one of the highest divisions in the classification of living beings)
    augu valsts ― plant kingdom
    dzīvnieku valsts ― animal kingdom

Declension

Derived terms

References

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