spriest

spriest

1. superlative form of spry: most spry

• spiters, Prestis, sprites, Sprites, stirpes, sitreps, priests, respits, stripes, persist

This word results from the merging of two stems: (a) Proto-Baltic *spriesti < *spried-ti < Proto-Indo-European *spreyd- (“to press, to squeeze, to block”) (cf. Sudovian cognate saspriziz (“squeeze, crush”)); and (b) Proto-Baltic *sprensti, from *sprend-ti, from Proto-Indo-European *sprend- (“to pull, to stretch, to jump”), from *per-, *sper- (“to pull, to kick, to scatter, to strew, to sputter”) (whence also Latvian spert and sprēgāt, q.v.). The meaning of the (b) forms, perhaps with some influence from the (a) forms, has become dominant, evolving from probably “to pull, to stretch, to drag”, via uses such as sprīdi spriest “to stretch a span”, i.e., “to measure (a span, a gap) by stretching one's fingers”, to “measure” > “evaluate” > “judge”. The (a) form meaning has basically disappeared in standard Latvian, but it can still be found in several dialects, where spriest can still mean “press, squeeze”, and in the standard language in some derived terms (e.g., spriesties, iespriest, saspriest). Cognates of the (b) forms include Lithuanian sprę́sti (“to drive, stick into, to squeeze through, to throw, to stretch; to tighten, to harness; to judge, to decide, to solve”), Old Church Slavonic прѧсти (pręsti, “to spin (yarn)”), Russian прясть (prjastʹ), Ukrainian пря́сти (prjásty), Bulgarian преда́ (predá, “I spin”), Czech přísti, Polish prząść.^[1]

• IPA^(key):

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

spriest (transitive or intransitive, 1st conjugation, present spriežu, spried, spriež, past spriedu)

1. to judge (to make or formulate an opinion, a judgment)

   spriest patstāvīgi ― to judge independently

   spriest pēc nostāstiem ― to judge by witness accounts

   spriest pēc ārienes ― to judge by outside appearances

   spriest par nākotni ― to judge on, about the future

   viņš spriež pareizi ― he judges well, correctly

   man par šo jautājumu grūti spriest ― I find it difficult to judge on this question

   jā, nakts liekas vēsa... to var spriest pēc zvaigznēm ― yes, the night seemed cool... you could judge that by the stars

2. (law) to try, to judge (to decide a case in court, to make, to emit a judgment in court)

   spriest sodu ― to pronounce (lit. judge) the verdict

   spriest tiesu ― to dispense (lit. judge) justice

   kā nu tiesa spriedīs, tā būs ― as the court will judge, so it will be (= it will be as the court decides)

   krimināllietās tiesu spriež, pamatojoties uz pilsoņu vienlīdzību likuma un tiesas priekšā ― in criminal court, justice is dispensed (lit. judged) on the basis of every citizen's equality before the law and the courts

• (of "try in court"): tiesāt

prefixed verbs:

other derived terms:

• aizspriedums
• spriedums
• spriesties

• tiesa
• tiesnesis, tiesnese