nabags

Borrowed from Old East Slavic небогъ (nebogŭ, “poor”) or from Belarusian небог (njebóh), небога (njebóha) (cf. Old Church Slavonic небогъ (nebogŭ)); Lithuanian nabãgas is likewise a borrowing from Slavic. Like its opposite bagāts (“rich”) (q.v.), its basic stem is the same as Old Church Slavonic богъ (bogŭ, “happiness; abundance, riches; god”), so the original meaning in Slavic was probably “(one) whom god gave nothing.” The word was borrowed into Latvian before the 13th century and used from the beginning both as a noun and as an adjective.^[1]

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nabags m (1st declension, feminine form: nabadze)

1. poor man, pauper (man, or in general a person, who cannot provide for himself and lives from the charity of others)

   pilsēta, pagasta nabagi ― city, parish poor

   akls, klibs, vecs nabags ― blind, lame, old poor man

   kļūt par nabagu ― to become a poor man

   nabaga dāvana ― alms (lit. donation to the poor)

   kad nabags redz cita cilvēka bagātību, viņš jūtas vēl nabagāks ― when a poor man sees another person's riches, he feels even poorer

2. (often in the genitive, used as an adjective) poor man (man, or in general a person, who deserves pity; in this sense, the diminutive form nabadziņš is more frequently used)

   nabaga bērns, meitene ― poor child, girl

   nabaga sunītis salst ārā ― the poor dog is freezing outside

   skolotāji mani plucināja aiz ausīm, bet tēvs, nabags, pacietību zaudējis, kaustīja ar striķa galu ― the teachers pulled my ears, but (my) father, poor him, having lost his patience, hit me with a piece of rope

nabags (definite nabagais, comparative nabagāks, superlative visnabagākais, adverb nabagi)

1. poor (who lacks possessions, the means of surviving)

   nabagais kaimiņš ― the poor neighbor

   viņš ir ļoti nabags ― he is very poor

   pasaulē nav neviens tik nabags, ka tas navarētu tomēr vēl kādam palīdzēt ― in the world there is nobody so poor that he can't really help someone else

   kad nabags redz cita cilvēka bagātību, viņš jūtas vēl nabagāks ― when a poor man sees another person's riches, he feels even poorer

2. poor (having, containing little or none of something, especially something important, valuable or useful)

   zivīm nabaga upe ― a river poor in fish

   ar kokiem nabaga zeme ― land poor in trees

   upe sekla, vasarā ūdeņiem nabaga ― the river is shallow, in the summer (it is) poor in water

   visnabagākā ar palmām ir Eiropa: te aug tikai viena palma, pundurpalma ― the poorest (continent) in palm trees is Europe: here, only one palm tree grows, the palmetto tree

3. poor (not sufficiently varied and diverse, in form, nuances, parts; one-sided, limited)

   cik dzīve nabaga! cik maz tai laba! un, ak, cik maz ir skaista!... ― how poor life is! how little good it has! and, ah! how little beauty it (has, is)!...

   jo augstāk mēs tikām, jo ainava kļuva nabagāka ― the higher up we got (= climbed), the poorer the landscape became

   faktiem un pierādījumiem nabags viņa ievadraksts ― his editorial (was) poor in facts and evidence

4. (of the mind, the psyche, the spirit) poor, shallow, not sensitive

   Jorena psiholoģiska līnija ir inerta, dvēseliski nabaga ― Jorens' psychological line is inert, spiritually poor

• (of "lacking possessions"): nabadzīgs, nemantīgs, mazturīgs, trūcīgs
• (of "deserving pity"): nabadzīgs

• bagāts
• mantīgs
• turīgs

• nabadzība
• nabadzināt
• nabadzīgs
• nabadziņš, nabadzīte

• ubags, ubadze