centīgs

Latvian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From censt(ies) (“to try”) +‎ -īgs. The standard stem for this verb has š (es cenšos, “I try”), but dialectally also t (es centos), which explains why there are derived forms with t, like centīgs, centība (“zeal”), and with s, like censonis (“striver, fighter, assiduous person”) or sacensība (“competition”) (and also, colloquially, censīgs, censība).[1]

Pronunciation

(file)

Adjective

centīgs (definite centīgais, comparative centīgāks, superlative viscentīgākais, adverb centīgi)

  1. diligent, zealous, hard-working (who insists on trying to do, to obtain something)
    centīgs cilvēks, strādnieks, skolēns ― diligent person, worker, student
  2. diligent, zealous, hard-working (which expresses the desire to keep trying to do, to obtain something)
    centīgs gars ir latvju tautai ― the Latvian people has a diligent spirit
    lapa bija aprakstīta ar centīgu, nelīdzenu rokrakstu ― the sheet of paper was all covered with zealous, uneven handwriting

Declension

Synonyms

References

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