abinieks

Latvian

Abinieki

Etymology

Coined in 1860-70 (author undetermined) from abi (“both”) +‎ -nieks, following the model of Ancient Greek ἀμφίβιον (amphíbion), from ἀμφί (amphí, “of both kinds”) and βίος (bíos, “life”). This word quickly replaced earlier proposed forms like abejāds and abejādnieks.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [abiniɛks]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

abinieks m (1st declension)

1. amphibian (vertebrates of the class Amphibia that live both on land and in water)

   astaini, bezastaini abinieki ― tailed, non-tailed amphibians

   abinieku oliņas, kāpuri ― eggs, larvae of amphibians

   abinieki ir tādi dzīvnieki, kas dzīvo gan ūdenī, gan uz sauszemes, kā, piemēram, vardes ― amphibians are the animals that live both in water and on dry land, such as, for example, frogs

   vairums abinieku sugu ir derīgi dzīvnieki, jo tie iznīcina lauksaimniecībai kaitīgus kukaiņus— most species of amphibians are useful animals, because they destroy insects that are harmful to agriculture

Usage notes

In the biological sense (Amphibia), abinieks is the usual term. In non-biological senses ('amphibian tank'), however, only amfībija is possible.

Declension

Declension of abinieks (1st declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	abinieks	abinieki
accusative (akuzatīvs)	abinieku	abiniekus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	abinieka	abinieku
dative (datīvs)	abiniekam	abiniekiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	abinieku	abiniekiem
locative (lokatīvs)	abiniekā	abiniekos
vocative (vokatīvs)	abiniek	abinieki

Synonyms

• amfībija