mēness

See also: meness and Mēness

Latvian

Mēness

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”). Cognates include Lithuanian mėnuo (“month, moon”), Old Church Slavonic мѣсѧць (měsęcĭ, “moon, month”) (Russian ме́сяц (mésjac), Polish miesiąc, Czech měsíc), Sanskrit मास (māsa), Persian ماه (mâh), Old Armenian ամիս (amis), Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “moon”), Latin mēnsis (“month”) (Spanish mes, Italian mese, French mois), Proto-Celtic *mīns (Irish mí, Welsh mis), Proto-Germanic *mēnōþs (“month”) (Old English mōnaþ, English month, German Monat, Dutch maand, Swedish månad).

Pronunciation

(file)

Noun

mēness m (2nd declension, irregular nominative, genitive)

  1. (astronomy) moon (largest satellite of the Earth; often Mēness)
    mēness aptumsums ― lunar eclipse
    mēness virsma ― moon surface
    mēness gaisma, mēnessgaisma ― moonlight
    mēness spīd ― the moon shines
    mēness nakts ― (full) moon night
    mēness jūra ― moon sea, mare (dark area on the surface of the moon)
    mēness kalendārs ― lunar calendar
    mēness fāzes ― moon phases
    jauns, augošs, pilns, dilstošs mēness ― new, crescent, full, waning moon
    vecs mēness ― old moon (visible only as a thin crescent oriented towards the sun)
    tukšs mēness ― empty moon (new moon when entirely invisible)
    bāls kā mēness ― pale as the moon
  2. (astronomy) moon, satellite (of another planet)
    Jupitera mēneši ― the moons of Jupiter

Usage notes

  • When referring to the Earth's largest satellite as a location, mēness is often capitalized: Mēness.
  • The noun mēnesis (“month”) is often confused with its homonym mēness (“moon”), with which it has most declension forms in common (only the nominative singular and genitive singular forms of these two nouns are different).

Declension

Derived terms

See also

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.