vēstule

See also: vēstulē

Latvian

Vēstule

Etymology

Coined by Atis Kronvalds in 1869, derived from vēstīt (“to herald, to announce”) (compare vēsts (“news”)). Its form was influenced by Ancient Greek ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ, “letter; command, commission; will”). Krovanlds proposed other related words (vēstulēties “to correspond, exchange letters,” and also vēstulēšanās, vēstulējums, vēstulība) which did not find acceptance. Before Kronvalds' vēstule, the concept of “letter” was expressed as (rakstīta) grāmata; the term breve (from Italian breve (“short writing”), from Latin brevis (“short”); compare German Brief), introduced by the journal Pēterburgas Avīzes (probably by J. Alunāns), did not find acceptance either.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [væ̀ːstulɛ]
(file)

Noun

vēstule f (5th declension)

  1. letter (a written message for someone, especially if sent by mail)
    privāta vēstule ― private letter
    oficiāla vēstule ― official letter
    mīlestības vēstule ― love letter
    atplēst vēstuli ― to open a letter
    ierakstīta, apdrošināta vēstule ― registered letter
    atklāta vēstule ― open letter (published in a newspaper)
    vēstules nosūtītājs, saņēmējs ― letter sender, receiver (addressee)

Declension

Synonyms

References

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