lēts

From Proto-Baltic *lētas, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁- (“to let, to allow, to permit, to tolerate”) (whence also Latvian lēns (“slow”), q.v.) with an extra suffix -to. The semantic evolution was probably: “loose, slack, tired” (“allowed to go down”) > “slow” > “light, easy” (the basic meaning in 17th-century texts) > “easy to purchase” > “cheap” (by the mid-18th century). The earlier meaning of “light, easy” can still be seen in compounds like lētticīgs (“credulous; who believes easily”) and in some uses of the adverbial form lēti. Cognates include Lithuanian lė̃tas (“slow, calm, gentle”), Latin lētum (“death, end, ruin”).^[1]

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lēts (definite lētais, comparative lētāks, superlative vislētākais, adverb lēti)

1. cheap (that which can be bought with little money)

   lēts tērps ― cheap suit, outfit

   lētas konfektes ― cheap candy

   kam dārzā bites, tam medus lēts ― he who has bees in (his) garden has cheap honey

2. cheap (not demanding much money, means, etc. for its realization)

   lēta zemes apstrādāšana ― cheap land cultivation

   lēta ražošana ― cheap production, manufacture

3. cheap (who works for little pay)

   tie tomēr bija pie strādāšanas visparocīgākie un lētākie ― these (peasants) are the handiest and cheapest for work

4. cheap (easy to do, to achieve, and therefore of little value)

   lēta uzvara ― cheap victory

   lēta, vīzdegunīga popularitāte ― cheap, condescending popularity

5. cheap, trite (ostentatious, without deeper content)

   lēta gaume ― cheap taste

   lēti joki ― cheap jokes

• dārgs

• lētums