šķīsts

From the verb šķīst (“to become liquid; to melt; to dissolve; to disintegrate”), earlier meaning “to clean” (q.v.), of which it was originally the past participle; this verb, in turn, comes from *skīsti, from *skid-ti, from Proto-Baltic *skeyd, *skīd-, *skid-, possibly from a kʷʰ-initial phonological variant of Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰéy- (“clear, light, shiny”) with an extra d (the initial s being probably an s-mobile); the meaning evolved from “clear” to “liquid” (via “clean”). Some researchers suggest a different source: Proto-Indo-European *skey-, *skēy- (“to cut, to split”) with an extra -d; in this case, the semantic evolution would have been “to cut, to split” > “to move quickly in all directions” > “to splash” > “to be (like) a liquid” (whence “clear, clean”). Cognates include Lithuanian skýstas (“thin”) (of liquids), Old Prussian skijstan (“clean”) (accusative), Proto-Slavic *čistъ (“clean, pure”) (Russian чи́стый (čístyj), Ukrainian чи́стий (čýstyj), Bulgarian чист (čist), Czech čistý, Polish czysty).^[1]

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šķīsts (definite šķīstais, comparative šķīstāks, superlative visšķīstākais, adverb šķīsti)

1. (religion) pure, immaculate, without sin (who never sinned; who was purified, who had his/her sins forgiven)

   šķīsts ticīgais ― pure believer

2. (morally) pure, virtuous (who follows high moral standards)

   nekas, pēc viņas domām, nebija tik šķīsts un dievišķīgs kā viņas pirmā mīlestība ― nothing, in her opinino, was as pure and divine as her first love

   puisis šķīstā jaunības dedzībā godīgi izstāstīja visu dzirdēto ― the young man, in the virtuous enthusiasm of youth, repeated truthfully all he had heard

   ai daktera kungs, manam bērnam gan nav pērļu un dārgu akmeņu, bet viņas rota ir viņas tikums un šķīstā sirds ― oh, doctor, my child does not have pearls and precious stones; his playthings are his honesty and his pure, virtuous heart

3. virgin, virginal, chaste (not having had sex yet; who refrains voluntarily from having sex)

   tu gan izliecies aplam šķīsta jaunava; varbūt arī tāda esi? ― you have deviated wrongly (= to the wrong path), chaste young woman; are you maybe (still) such (= chaste)?

4. (dated sense, usually about clothes, body) clean

   labi izmazgātie un izvelētie, šķīstu mirdzumu starojošie linu krekli ― well washed, well cleaned shirts, having (lit. radiating) a clean shine

• (of "pure", "virtuous"): tikumīgs, nevainīgs, tīrs
• (of "virgin"): jaunavīgs, nevainīgs
• (of "clean"): tīrs

• šķīstība
• šķīstums

• šķīst