kalps
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
Borrowed from Old East Slavic холпь (xolpĭ, “serf, slave”) (cf. Russian холоп (xolop)), itself a borrowing from Turkic (or, according to some researchers, a native word, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel-, *skel- “offshoot, seedlings, stem”). The borrowing must have happened by the 13th century at the latest; the first mentions of this word are in 17th-century dictionaries.[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
kalps m (1st declension, feminine form: kalpone)
- farmhand, farm laborer, servant (a paid worker in a farm)
- strādāt par kalpu ― to work as a farmhand
- muižas kalpi ― the mannor's laborers
- pieņemt, atlaist, algot kalpus ― to accept, to dismiss, to hire servants
- kalpu klēts ― the servants' barn (= house)
- kalpa ļaudis ― farm workers (lit. farmhand people)
- kāds kungs, tāds kalps ― like lord, like servant (folk saying)
- kalpi bija laukstrādnieki, kas salīguši strādāt pie saimniekiem par algu (graudā, vēlāk arī daļēji naudā) ― farmhands were rural workers who were hired to work for a farmer for wages (paid in grain, later also partially in money)
- (figuratively) servant (a person who works for some interest or cause)
- deputāts ir tautas kalps ― a congressman is a servant of the people
- dieva kalps ― a servant of god (e.g., a priest)
- tumsas kalpi ― servants of darkness
- (card games) jack, knave (the card between 10 and queen, with the image of a young man)
- pīķa kalps ― the jack of spades
- kapteinis sāka dalīt kārtis, un Vilks izklaidīgi ņēma tās pretī... tur bija viens kalps un trīs dāmas ― the captain began to deal the cards, and Vilks distractedly took them... there were one jack and three queens
Declension
Declension of kalps (1st declension)
Related terms
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “kalps”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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