kāsis

The origin of this word is not clear. It may stem from Proto-Indo-European *ḱāk-, *ḱak- (“branch, pole”), via metathesis (from *kāḱ- to Proto-Baltic *kāš- to Latvian kāsis), with the original meaning being “bent branch.” Cognates would then include Lithuanian dialectal kóšis, and maybe also Sanskrit काशिः (kāśiḥ, “hollow of the hand”), if indeed its older meaning was “meander,” “bent, crooked one.”

Proto-Indo-European *ḱāk-, *ḱak- without metathesis would have yielded the dialectal Latvian term saķis (“bifurcated ending”), Lithuanian šakà (“branch”), and Sanskrit शाखा (śākhā, “branch”).^[1]

• IPA^(key):

kāsis m (2nd declension)

1. hook (object with a curved, sharp tip used for suspending or hanging)

   dzelzs, tērauda kāsis ― iron, steel hook

   uzkabināt uz kāša ― to hang (something) on a hook

   pakārt katlu kāsi virs uguns ― to hang the pothook over the fire

   nocelt podu no kāša ― to lift, remove a pot from the hook

2. stick, bar with a hook or crooked tip

   izvilkt ar kāsi ūdens spaini no akas ― to pull a bucket of water from the well with a hook

3. (something having) the form or shape of a hook

   dzērves, zosis un pīles lido kāsī vai rindā ― cranes, geese and ducks fly in a hook or in a row

   saliekt stiepli kāsī ― to bend the wire into a hook

4. (slang) joint, a marijuana cigarette

• āķis
• (stick, bar): ķeksis

• kāškrusts, kāšu krusts