[bālts]
CilmeFrom an unattested verb *balt (“to become white”) (of which balts originally was the past participle form; compare Lithuanian bálti, and Latvian 17th-century derived verb baltīt (“to make, paint something white”), later replaced by other verbs, derived from balts: from Proto-Baltic *bal-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-, *bʰol- (“shiny, white”).
Cognates include Lithuanian báltas, Sudovian bałtas. In several Indo-European languages, reflexes of the stem *bʰel-, *bʰol- are often found in words relating to water or humid places, probably due to their shiny, reflective surfaces: Illyrian *balta (“marsh, swamp”), Albanian baltë (“mud, sludge, swamp”), Proto-Slavic *bolto (“swamp, lake”) (Old Church Slavonic блато (blato, “lake”), Russian болото (boloto, “marsh, swamp”) (dialectal “puddle, lake”), Czech bláto (“mud; pl. swamp”), Polish błoto (“mud, swamp”)). This usage is also attested in Baltic languages, as in, e.g., Old Prussian placename Namuynbalt (swamp). It left also traces in Latvian, in the names of lakes or swamps (Baltenis, Baltiņa purvs), and is a possible source of the word balti (“Balts, Baltic”).
- white (having the color of, e.g., snow or milk)
“balts papīrs” — white paper
“balts kā sniegs, krīts, piens, kauls” — white as snow, chalk, milk, bone
“dzīvnieks ar baltu spalvu” — an animal with white fur, feathers
- white (light, not dark; without color; gray)
“baltās naktis” — white nights (polar nights in summer, without darkness)
“baltie asinsķermenīši” — white (blood) cells
“baltais vīns” — white wine
- white (a member of the Caucasian race)
“baltā rase” — white (= Caucasian) race
“baltie kolonizatori” — white colonizers, settlers
- clean
“uzvilkt sestdienā baltu veļu” — to wear white linen (= clean clothes) on Saturday
- counterrevolutionary, member of the white guard
“balto armija, balto karaspēks” — the white army, white troops
“balto uzbrukums” — a white attack
- masculineBalt, a Baltic person, someone from the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia)
- in-plural, masculinethe Balts (Latvians, Lithuanians, and other related people; the Indo-European people from which Latvians and Lithuanians descend)
- genitive, masculine, pluralBaltic, pertaining to the Baltic states and their people; pertaining to the ancient Balts
“baltu tautas” — the Baltic peoples
“baltu valodas” — the Baltic languages
“baltu valodniecība” — Baltic linguistics
Formasbaltais(definite) · baltāks(comparative) · visbaltākais(superlative) · balti(adverb) · balts(masculine, nominative, singular) · balti(masculine, nominative, plural) · balta(feminine, nominative, singular) · baltas(feminine, nominative, plural) · balta(genitive, masculine, singular) · baltu(genitive, masculine, plural) · baltas(feminine, genitive, singular) · baltu(feminine, genitive, plural) · baltam(dative, masculine, singular) · baltiem(dative, masculine, plural) · baltai(dative, feminine, singular) · baltām(dative, feminine, plural) · baltu(accusative, masculine, singular) · baltus(accusative, masculine, plural) · baltu(accusative, feminine, singular) · baltas(accusative, feminine, plural)