Derived from dāt, an old parallel form of dot (“to give”), or perhaps from its (rare) iterative form dāstīt (“to give unthinkingly, wastefully”). The word dāsns was introduced in the literary language by J. Pliekšāns (Rainis) at the end of the 19th century. Some consider it irregularly formed (with ā instead of the expected o); others consider it a Lithuanism. Cognates include Lithuanian dosùs.