nams

Latvian

Nams (1)
Kultūras nams (4)

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *damús (“house”); The irregular d > n change in Baltic is attributed either to dissimilation (in expressions like darīt namu (“to make a house”)), or to influence from Iranic languages (compare Avestan 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 (nmāna, “quarters, house”) alongside 𐬛𐬆𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 (dəmāna), suggesting the existence of an Iranian form *nam-). Another suggestion was that Proto-Baltic *nam- could come from *nm̥- < *dm̥-, the zero grade form of Proto-Indo-European *dṓm. Yet another possibility is the influence of the stem of words like Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to tend, to distribute, to take to pasture”), νομός (nomós, “pasture; division, distribution; residence, dwelling”). Cognates include Lithuanian nãmas, Old Church Slavonic домъ (domŭ), Belarusian дом (dom), Bulgarian дом (dom), Russian дом (dom), Ukrainian дім (dim), Czech dům (genitive domu), Polish dom, Sanskrit दम (dáma), Old Armenian տուն (tun), Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos), Latin domus.[1]

Pronunciation

(file)

Noun

nams m (1st declension)

  1. house, building (esp. big, multi-storey, in the city)
    dzīvojamais nams ― residential house
    daudzstāvu nams ― multi-storey house
    vairākdzīvokļu nams ― many-apartment house, building
    īres nams ― rent house (= apartment building, i.e., a building with apartments to rent)
  2. house, location (of a celebration)
    kāzu nams ― wedding house (= celebration)
    nama māte, namamāte ― hostess (of a party, celebration)
  3. a famous or rich family
    Rotšildu nams ― the house (= family) of Rothschild
  4. fairly large building, or part of a building, which usually has administrative, cultural, public or commercial functions
    zinātnes un tehnikas nams ― House of Science and Technology
    kultūras nams ― House of Culture
    sporta nams ― sports club
    mēbeļu nams ― furniture house
    bērnu nams, bērnunams ― children's home (= orphanage)
    Baltais nams ― the White House

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

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

Volapük

Noun

nams

  1. plural of nam
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