skābt

From an earlier *skābti, from Proto-Baltic *skāb-ti/tey, from Proto-Indo-European *skēb-, *skēbʰ- (“to slice, to cut with a sharp tool”), from the stem *sek- (“to cut”) with an extra -b(ʰ). The semantic change, apparently exclusive to Balto-Slavic languages, was: “to cut” > “to become sharp (by, for cutting)” > “to become sharp (in taste)” > “to become sour, acid.” Cognates include Lithuanian skõbti (“to carve, to hollow out, to pluck”), dialectal skóbti (“to go sour”), Old Church Slavonic скобль (skoblĭ, “scraper”), Russian ско́бель (skóbelʹ, “plane iron, scraper”), Bulgarian хо́бя (hóbja, “to damage”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban, “to shear”), Old High German scaba (“plane”), German schaben (“to scrape, to scrub”), Latin scabō (“to scratch, to scrape”).^[1]

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skābt (intransitive, 1st conjugation, present skābstu, skābsti, skābst, past skābu)

1. (usually 3rd person) to become, go sour, acid

   piens siltumā skābst ― milk goes sour in the heat

   piens sācis skābt ― the milk has begun to go sour

   augsnēm ar lielu ūdens daudzumu ir pastiprināta tieksme skābt un kļūt nederīgām tādu kultūru audzēšanā, kas skābumu nepacieš ― soils with a large amount of water have an increased propensity to acidify and become unfit for those cultures that cannot endure acidity

2. (of people) to become sour, surly, irritated, frustrated

   mājās ķildīga sieva lai skābst, / pilsonis ruma un mīlas slāpst ― let the peevish wife go sour at home, / a citizen is thirsty for love and rum

   bet vai tad ne no šā, ne no tā var tikai skābt? nebūt ne! ja vien cilvēks pēc dabas nav sirdīgs īgņa ― but should one really go sour not from this, not from that (= for no reason)? not at all! unless one is by nature a grumbler

prefixed verbs:

other derived terms:

• skābināt

• skābe
• skābeklis
• skābs, skābums
• skābēt