iekša

Latvian

Etymology

Abstracted as a singular, with independent meaning, from the plural iekšas (“guts, entrails”), from an earlier (and still dialectal) iešas with an epenthetic k, from Proto-Baltic *en-styā-s, derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁en (“in(side)”). The adverb iekšā (“inside”) is the corresponding locative case form; in 16th- and 17th-century sources an old illative form iekšan is also used (from which is derived the old-fashioned preposition iekš). Cognates include Lithuanian įšcios (“(pl.) mother's lap; depth”), Old Prussian instran (“lard”), Old Church Slavonic ѩтро (jętro, “liver”), Old Norse istr (“inner fat”), Middle Low German inster (“slaughtered animal entrails”), Ancient Greek ἔντερον (énteron, “guts, intestines”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

iekša m (1st declension)

1. interior, inside (the space in the inside of a building, house, etc.)

   rijas iekša ir melna ― the inside of the barn is black

   nākt no iekšas ― to come from inside

   dzīvot, strādāt pa iekšu ― to live, to work inside

   durvis bija no iekšas ciet ― the door was shut from the inside

2. (chiefly reduced, used in compounds as a quasi-prefix) internal, inside, inner

   iekšlogs ― interior, inside window

   iekšdurvis ― interior door

   iekšsiena ― interior wall

   iekškabata ― inner pocket

   iekšdarbi ― interior works

3. in, inside (of something, some object)

   likt pēdas uz iekšu ― to put one's food in(side) (something)

   zēni sabāzuši kopā, jaunākais rociņu satvēris dūrē ar īkšķīti uz iekšu ― the boys were packed together, the youngest one having clutched his little hand into a fist with the thumb inside

Declension

Synonyms

• (of "internal, inner"): iekšējs
• (of "inside (of something)"): iekšpuse

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of "(area) inside"”): ārs
• (antonym(s) of “of "in, inside"”): ārā
• (antonym(s) of “of "internal, inner"”): ārējs

Derived terms

• iekš
• iekšā
• iekšas
• iekšējs
• iekšiene
• iekšpuse

References