briedis

See also: Briedis

Latvian

Briedis

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *breid-, *bried-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreydʰ-, together with a variant *bʰrent-, both from the stem *bʰer (“to swell”) (whence also briest (“to swell”), q.v.). The meaning apparently changed as follows: “swollen, big” > “having a big, well-developed body” > “strong, imposing (animal).” At first this word apparently referred to elks, and only later to deer; the meaning “elk” is still found in folklore. Cognates include Lithuanian bríedis (“elk”), Old Prussian braydis (“elk”) (< *breidis), Sudovian brid (“deer”), Elfdalian brinde (“elk”), Messapic brénthon (“elk, deer”) (< *brénton), Messapic bréndon (“deer”), Albanian bri (“horn, antler”), Thracian toponym Brendike, Swedish brinde (“elk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɾiɛ̂dis]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

briedis m (2nd declension)

1. deer, stag (especially Dama dama)

   brieža ragi ― deer antlers

   brieža medības ― deer hunting

   briežu mātīte ― female deer

   stalts kā briedis ― tall, stately like a deer

Declension

Declension of briedis (2nd declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	briedis	brieži
accusative (akuzatīvs)	briedi	briežus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	brieža	briežu
dative (datīvs)	briedim	briežiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	briedi	briežiem
locative (lokatīvs)	briedī	briežos
vocative (vokatīvs)	briedi	brieži

Derived terms

• staltbriedis
• ziemeļbriedis

Lithuanian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *bried-, seemingly from a Proto-Indo-European *bʰreydʰ- (“elk, deer”). Cognate with Latvian briedis (“elk”), Old Prussian braydis (“elk”) (< *breidis); outside of Baltic, cognate with Sudovian brid (“deer”), Elfdalian brinde (“elk”), Swedish brinde (“elk”), Ancient Greek βρένδος (bréndos, “deer”) (from Messapic), Albanian bri (“horn, antler”). Various formally and semantically unconvincing proposals have been given to derive these words from a Proto-Indo-European verbal formation.

Noun

bríedis m stress pattern 1

1. elk (UK), moose (US), Alces alces

Declension

Declension of bríedis

	singular (vienaskaita)	plural (daugiskaita)
nominative (vardininkas)	bríedis	bríedžiai
genitive (kilmininkas)	bríedžio	bríedžių
dative (naudininkas)	bríedžiui	bríedžiams
accusative (galininkas)	bríedį	bríedžius
instrumental (įnagininkas)	bríedžiu	bríedžiais
locative (vietininkas)	bríedyje	bríedžiuose
vocative (šauksmininkas)	bríedi	bríedžiai