mainīt

From Proto-Baltic *mainas, from *moy-no-s, from Proto-Indo-European *moy-, *mey-, *mī- (“to change”) (whence also mīt (“to change”)). Cognates include Lithuanian maĩnas (“change”), Old Church Slavonic мѣнити (měniti), Russian менять (menjatʹ), из-мени́ть (iz-menítʹ), Czech měniti, Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (maidjan, “to change; to cheat, to deceive”), 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gamains, “common, collective”) (< “which went through many changes, transactions”), German meiden (“to avoid”), gemein (“ordinary, common”), Sanskrit मयते (máyate), मिनाति (mināti, “to change”), Ancient Greek μοῖνος (moînos, “gratitude, reward”) (< Latin *moitos (“change”) ?), Latin mūnus (“obligation; office; gift”) (< *moenus, “change” ?).^[1]

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mainīt (transitive, 3rd conjugation, present mainu, maini, maina, past mainīju)

1. to change, to exchange

   mainīt naudu ― to change money (into smaller pieces; into foreign currency)

   mainīt latu sīknaudā ― to change one lat in(to) small change

   mainīt pastmarkas ― to change stamps

   izdevīgi, neizdevīgi mainīt ― to exchange (something) advantageously, disadvantageously

2. to change, to replace (something, with something else)

   mainīt dzīvesvietu ― to change (one's) residence, address

   mainīt dzīvokli ― to change apartments

   mainīt specialitāti ― to change specialty

   mainīt uzvārdu, darbu ― to change (one's) family name, (one's) work

   mainīt vārdu kārtību ― to change the word order

   mainīt tērpus ― to change clothes, costumes

3. to change, to replace (with a new one)

   mainīt kompreses ― to change compresses.

   mainīt motoriem eļļu ― to change the engine oil

4. to change (to make something become different)

   mainīt raksturu, balsi ― to change (one's) character, voice

   mainīt dzīves veidu ― to change (one's) way of life

   mainīt attieksmi pret draugu ― to change (one's) attitude to a friend

   vējš maina virzienu ― the wind is changing direction

   mainīt lēmumu, izturēšanos ― to change (one's) decision, behavior

   viņš mainījis savu uzskatu ― he changed his view

   hameleons maina krāsu ― the chameleon changed (its) color

   krēsla maina priekšmetu apveidus ― the twilight changes the shapes of objects

5. to change (to move from one place to another)

   mainīt vietām mēbeles ― to change the place of the furniture, to swap furniture

6. to exchange (to say one's (opinion, thought) and to hear another person's)

   vēl kādus vārdus ar Annu mainījis, vecais atvadījās un aizgāja ― having exchanged a few words with Anna, the old man said goodbye and left

• mīt

prefixed verbs:

• mainīgs
• mainīties
• maiņa
• (rare term) maiņus