ugunsgrēks

Latvian

Ugunsgrēks

Etymology

From uguns (“fire”) +‎ grēks (“sin”). This is an old compound, already attested in 17th-century dictionaries; at that time, grēks did not have its current religious meaning; rather, it meant "misfortune, calamity, disaster", a meaning still found in folk songs.[1]

Noun

ugunsgrēks m (1st declension)

  1. (uncontrolled) fire; conflagration
    ugunsgrēka izcelšanās ― fire outbreak
    meža ugunsgrēks ― forest fire
    ugunsgrēka trauksme ― fire alarm
    ugunsgrēka sekas ― consequences of a fire
    dzēst ugunsgrēku ― to extinguish a fire
    iet bojā ugunsgrēkā ― to die in a fire
    deg kādas mājas, un ugunsgrēks met padebešos savu liesmu atspīdumu ― a house was burning, and the fire threw its flaming glare into the clouds

Declension

See also

References

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