spilgts

Latvian

Etymology

Originally the past participle of an old (still dialectally attested) verb spilgt (“to shine”), from Proto-Baltic *spelg-, *spilg-, *spulg- (whence also spulgs), from Proto-Indo-European *pel-, *spel-, *spʰel- (“to shine”) with an extra g. Cognates include Low German flink (“bright, shining; fast”) (cf. German flink (“quick, nimble”)).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [spīlkts]

Adjective

spilgts (definite spilgtais, comparative spilgtāks, superlative visspilgtākais, adverb spilgti)

  1. (of light, light sources) bright (very strong; which emits strong light)
    spilgta gaisma ― bright light
    spilgta uguns, liesma ― bright fire, flame
    spilgts zibens ― bright lightning
    spilgta saule ― bright sun
    lielās dzīvsudraba spuldzes ir tik spilgtas, ka kož acīs ― the big mercury lamps are so bright that they hurt (lit. bite in) the eyes
  2. (of colors) bright, vivid
    spilgts krāsas tonis ― bright color shade
    spilgti sarkans ― bright red
  3. (of other objects) bright, shiny (which reflects light strongly)
    spilgts audums ― bright, shiny fabric
    puisis apstājas pie apaļās cīniju dobes un vēro spilgtos ziedus ― the young man stopped by the round zinnia beds and watched the bright, shiny flowers
    varde tupēja man uz plaukstas: mikla, vēsa un tik neparasti spilgta, it kā glumo ādu būtu apgleznojusi ekspresionista ota ― the frog sat on the palm of my hand: soft, cool and unusually bright, shiny, as if its smooth, slippery skin had been painted with an expressionist brush
  4. (figuratively) clear, striking, powerful, remarkable (mentally, emotionally very impressive)
    spilgts piemērs ― a striking example
    spilgti pretstati ― striking contrasts
    spilgts talants ― striking, impressive talent
    spilgta izrādes epizode ― striking, impressive show episode
    spilgts romāna tēls ― powerful, striking literary (lit. novel) character
    Alfrēds Kalniņš ir viena no visspilgtākajām, savdabīgākajām personībām latviešu mūzikas vēsturē ― Alfrēds Kalniņš is one of the brightest, most striking personalities in Latvian musical history
    cilvēku parasti pazudina viņa visspilgtākā rakstura īpašība, kas ar laiku kļūst par vājību ― a person is usually ruined by his most striking character trait, which with time becomes (his/her) weakness
  5. (dated sense, of sounds; now usually spalgs) very loud, strong
    bet vējš tik skaļiem smiekliem pasmejas... līdz smejas kaivas spilgtiem kliedzieniem ― but the wind laughs with such loud laughs... (and) with the laughs (also) a seagull's sharp, loud squawks

Declension

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

References

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