Borrowed from Old East Slavic скърбь (skŭrbĭ), from Proto-Slavic *skъrbъ, cf. Russian скорбь (skorbʹ), Serbo-Croatian skrb. Cognate to Votic kurpa. Possibly a Baltic loan, compare Lithuanian skurbė (“grief”).
kurb (genitive kurva, partitive kurba, comparative kurvem, superlative kõige kurvem or kurvim)
| Declension of kurb (ÕS type 22i/külm, b-v gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | kurb | kurvad | |
| accusative | nom. | ||
| gen. | kurva | ||
| genitive | kurbade | ||
| partitive | kurba | kurbi kurbasid | |
| illative | kurba kurvasse |
kurbadesse kurvisse | |
| inessive | kurvas | kurbades kurvis | |
| elative | kurvast | kurbadest kurvist | |
| allative | kurvale | kurbadele kurvile | |
| adessive | kurval | kurbadel kurvil | |
| ablative | kurvalt | kurbadelt kurvilt | |
| translative | kurvaks | kurbadeks kurviks | |
| terminative | kurvani | kurbadeni | |
| essive | kurvana | kurbadena | |
| abessive | kurvata | kurbadeta | |
| comitative | kurvaga | kurbadega | |
Raimo Raag. (2015), A Criterion for Old Age, section “Word stems in modern standard Estonian of Old East Slavic origin”, in Книгамъ бо есть неищетная глубина: Essays in Honour of Irina Lysén.