English

Noun

uts

1. plural of ut

Basque

Noun

uts

1. hole

See also

• huskune

Kalasha

Noun

uts

1. spring (water source)

Latvian

Uts

Etymology

Usually derived from Proto-Indo-European *wēt-, *wet-, *ut-, from the stem *wē- ‎(“to blow”) (whence also Latin vējš ‎(“wind”), q.v.) with a suffix -t. J. Endzelīns, connecting this word to Old Prussian wutris ‎(“blacksmith”), and noting the ancient link between the notions of “forging” and “pricking, piercing” (compare Latvian kalt ‎(“to forge”), Russian колоть ‎(kolót', “to pierce”)), suggested that the original meaning of uts was “that which pierces; stitch.” Another opinion is that uts (via *wet-, with a suffix -t) derives from Proto-Indo-European *eu- ‎(“to feel”) (whence also Latvian just ‎(“to feel”), q.v.), so that its original meaning would have been “that which is felt, which irritates.” A third suggestion is that uts comes from Proto-Indo-European *lus, *luH ‎(“louse”) (compare Lithuanian liũlė, German Laus, English louse), a word which many daughter languages altered or abandoned, perhaps because of linguistic taboos; in the Baltic case, only the middle u would have been kept, with an extra suffix -t. Cognates include Lithuanian utėlė̃, dialectal utė̃, utìs.^[1]

Noun

uts f (6th declension)

1. louse, lice (many species of small insect parasites, all in the order Phthiraptera)

   galvas, drēbju uts‎ ― head, clothes lice

   kaunuma uts‎ ― pubic lice

   utu ķemme‎ ― lice comb (for removing lice)

Declension

Derived terms

• utains

References

1. ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “uts”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7