zilonis

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Latvian

 zilonis on Latvian Wikipedia
Zilonis

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian слон (slon) (itself a borrowing from Turkic), made into a 2nd-declension masculine noun (ending -is); the initial z apparently results from the influence of zils (blue). This word is first mentioned (as a 1st-declension masculine noun, zilons) in 19th-century dictionaries. It replaced previous borrowings like elevants, elefants, still in use well into the 19th century.

Pronunciation

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Noun

zilonis m (2nd declension)

  1. elephant (fam. Elephantidae)
    ziloņu mātītefemale elephant
    iet kā zilonisto walk as an elephant (= heavily, clumsily)
    ziloņu barselephant herd

Declension

References

  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “zilonis”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN