māja

Traditionally considered a borrowing from Proto-Finnic *maa (“land, earth”) (compare Estonian maa, Finnish maa, Veps ma, Livonian mō); the meaning evolved from “earth, land” → “earth, fields close to a village, to (farm) houses” → “(farm) house.” This word was also re-borrowed into Proto-Finnic as *maja (compare Estonian maja (“house”), Finnish maja (“hut”), Livonian mōi (“home”)).

More recently, it has been suggested that Proto-Finnic *maa ultimately derives from Indo-European, cf. Sanskrit मही (mahī), Old Irish mag (“plains, field”) (from Proto-Indo-European *meǵ(ʰ)-, *mag(ʰ)-, whence also Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “big”)). In this case, Latvian māja might not be a borrowing, but a retention from Proto-Indo-European.[1] (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

• IPA^(key): [maːja]

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māja f (4th declension)

1. house, dwelling

   dzīvojamā māja ― residential house

   stūra māja ― corner house

   ģimenes māja ― family house

   kalpu māja ― servants' house, farm workers' house

   vienstāva, daudzstāvu māja ― one-storey, multi-storey house

2. (chiefly in the plural) farmhouse, farmstead, farm and its buildings

   lauku mājas ― farmhouse, farmstead

   iepirkt mājas ― to buy a farm

   dzīt govis mājās ― to drive the cows to the farm

3. (chiefly in the plural) house, home

   braukt, iet uz mājām ― to drive, to go home

   uzkopt māju ― to tidy up the house

   mājas māte, mājasmāte ― the lady (lit. mother) of the house

   otrās mājas ― a second home

   sēdēt mājās ― to sit home

   justies kā mājās ― to feel at home

• nams

• mājasmāte
• mājdzīvnieks
• mājlops