Of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a lengthened vowel grade of the same root as gel̃tas (“yellow”),[1] but this is semantically dubious due to the diversity of colors of flowers, as well as the exact derivational morphology being unclear.[2] That said, the color yellow tends to evoke connotations of shining and blooming in various languages, as Buck notes,[3] so the semantic connection is not too weak.
gėlė̃ f (plural gė̃lės) stress pattern 4
gėlė and the less common žolynas (“herbaceous plant; plant with flowers”) refer to an entire plant, while žiedas refers to just the part (the flower itself).
singular (vienaskaita) | plural (daugiskaita) | |
---|---|---|
nominative (vardininkas) | gėlė̃ | gė̃lės |
genitive (kilmininkas) | gėlė̃s | gėlių̃ |
dative (naudininkas) | gė̃lei | gėlė́ms |
accusative (galininkas) | gė̃lę | gėlès |
instrumental (įnagininkas) | gėlè | gėlėmìs |
locative (vietininkas) | gėlėjè | gėlėsè |
vocative (šauksmininkas) | gė̃le | gė̃lės |