sencis

From sens (“ancient”), made into a 2nd-declension noun. The c suggests a dialectal origin, from those dialects where ns > nc. Alternatively, it may have come from an earlier *sentis, via genitive *senša > senča. There may have been influence from the c in vecis (“old man”).[1]

sencis m (2nd declension, feminine form: sence)

1. (usually in the plural) ancestor (ancient relatives, e.g., the originators of an ethnic group, a clan, a family)

   tāli senči ― distant ancestors

   dzimtas senči ― (family, clan) ancestors

   senču dievi ― ancestral gods

   senču kults ― ancestor worship

2. (paleontology) ancestor (species of plants or animals from an earlier time period, from which modern species have evolved)

   zirga sencis ― the ancestor of the horse

   putnu senči ― the ancestors of the birds

3. (colloquial) parents (syn. vecāki)

   dzīvot uz senču rēķina ― to live at (one's) parents' expense

• senatne
• sens
• senums