zēns

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle High German söhn (“son”) (sȫne); cf. Sohn (“son”). The e is the nearest vowel to ö in Latvian; the length probably results from the influence of dēls (“son”). In an 18th-century dictionary, zēns is mentioned as “rarely used,” and only in the area around Riga and in Courland; in the 19th century, the word was still mostly used in Courland, but had already entered the literary language, as a synonym of puisis.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [zǣːns]

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.

Noun

zēns m (1st declension)

1. boy (a male child, approximately until 11 years of age)

   zēnu koris ― boy choir

   zēnu apģērbi ― boys' clothes

   zēnu rotaļas ― boys' games

   zēnu nedarbi ― boys' mischief

   zēnu skola ― boys' school

   zēnu istaba ― the boys' room (restroom, especially at school)

   Haris ir zēns, viņam vēl tālu līdz lielam cilvēkam, viņš daudz nesaprot ― Haris is a boy, he has a long way to go to become a grown-up, he doesn't understand much

2. young (especially adolescent) man

   sanāca vairāk nekā divdesmit vīriešu, visvairāk jauni zēni, bet arī pusmūža vīri un pat pāris sirmgalvju ― more than twenty men came, mostly young boys, bet also some middle-aged men and a few seniors

   es vēl negribu uzņemties rūpes par ģimeni... es esmu pavisam zaļš zēns ― I don't want to take care of the family yet... I am (still) a very green (= immature) boy

3. boy, boyfriend (a young man in whom a woman is romantically interested)

   meitenei bija savs zēns ― the girl had a boy(friend)

   no tās reizes, kad Jautrīte Raiņa vidusskolas sarīkojumā iepazinās ar Guntaru, daži sāka sačukstēties, ka Guntars esot Jautrītes zēns ― from that time when Jautrīte met Guntars at the event in the Rainis middle school, some (people) started to whisper that Guntars was Jautrīte's boy (= boyfriend)

4. (usually with an adjective or adjectival expression) boy, guy (a young man seen as having some, usually positive, quality)

   viņš ir lāga zēns ― he is a nice guy

   tēvocis patiešām bija zelta zēns ― uncle really was a golden boy

   vecais zēns ― old boy! (used to show familiarity, friendship)

References