[ˈviɛ̯̂ns]
CilmeFrom Proto-Baltic *eynos (with ey > ie metathesis; note that some 17th-century Kurzeme and Zemgale dialects still had some forms with ey), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *aiˀnas, from a Proto-Indo-European *éyno-, *éynos, from *éy, *óy (“he, it”) (non-Baltic cognates derive from o-grade *óy; compare Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“one”)) with a suffix *-nos, which originally had an adjectival meaning.
The Eastern Baltic cognates (unlike Old Prussian) have an initial v, which suggests an intermediate Eastern Baltic form *weynos. This initial *w may result from sporadic word-initial consonant-joining phenomena, or from a possible particle *w-, *we-.
Cognates of viens include Lithuanian vi̇́enas, Old Prussian ains, Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ains), German eins, English one, Old Irish oín, Ancient Greek οἰνός (oinós, “one (when throwing dice)”), Latin ūnus (< *oinos). From the form *eynos comes also Proto-Slavic *inъ, *edinъ, *edьnъ (“one”) (Old Church Slavonic ѥдинъ (jedinŭ), ѥдьнъ (jedĭnŭ), Ukrainian, Russian оди́н (odín), Belarusian адзі́н (adzín), Bulgarian еди́н (edín), Czech, Slovak, Polish jeden.
- one (the cipher, the cardinal number one)
“pieci un viens ir seši” — five and one is six
“no diviem atņemt vienu” — to subtract one from two
- one (an amount equal to one)
“viens galds, zimulis” — one table, pencil
“viena tonna” — one ton
“viens kilograms, litrs, metrs” — one kilo, liter, meter
- one o'clock (a moment in time; one hour after midnight, or after noon)
“pulkstenis ir viens” — it is one o'clock
“pulkstenis ir pāri vieniem” — it is past one o'clock
“no vieniem līdz diviem” — from one to two o'clock
- one, unit (the digit in the last position in a number)
“saskaitīt vienus ar vieniem, desmitus ar desmitiem” — to add the ones with the ones, the tens with the tens
- one (person, thing, event, action)
“visi par vienu, viens par visiem” — all for one and one for all
“visi kā viens” — all as one
“viens, kas man rūp, ir laika trūkums” — one (thing) I care about is the lack of time
- one, a certain (marking indefiniteness)
“vienā jaukā dienā” — (in) one nice, fine day
“tur jūs viens gaida” — one (person) is waiting for you there
- the same (indicating identity, sameness)
“viens un tas pats” — one and the same
“atkārtot vienu un to pašu” — to repeat the same thing
“vienā laikā” — at the same time
- alone, by oneself, without the help of others
“viens pats, viena pati” — alone by himself, alone by herself
“viņš dzivo gluži viens” — he lives completely alone
“mēs ar brāli palikām vieni” — I stayed alone with my brother
- one or other, some, a few (people, objects, events)
“viens otrs to apšauba” — a few (people) doubt it.
“vienā otrā gadījumā, vietā — ín a few' cases, places”
- each other, one another (indicating mutual relations, influence)
“cienīt vienam otru” — to respect each other
“viņi tuliņ pazina viens otru” — they immediately recognized each other
“viņi palīdz viens otram” — they help each other
- one of the... (member of a certain group)
“viņš ir viens no labākajiem mūsdienu rakstniekiem” — he is one of the best contemporary writers
“tas ir viens no tiem gadījumiem, kas liek padomāt” — this is one of those cases that make one think
“viens no diviem - jā vai nē” — either yes or no (lit. one of two (options): yes or no)
- one, in one (indicating continuity, lack of interruption)
“zirgs ir vienās putās” — the horse is in a lather, agitated
“māja stāv vienās liesmās” — the house is in one flame (= aflame, in flames, on fire)
“runāt vienā gabalā” — to speak in one piece (= without interruption)
- one, one really... (used to intensify the meaning)
“viņš ir viens kārtīgs cilvēks” — he is one (really) neat person
“ak tu viens palaidni!” — oh you (are) one mischievous (person)!
“tā mūsu Beņa ir gan viena! ko tik viņa sadomā, to izdara, lai vai kas...” — our Beņa is really one (woman)! whatever she fancies, she does, no matter what...
Formasviêns(canonical) · viens(masculine, nominative, singular) · vieni(masculine, nominative, plural) · viena(feminine, nominative, singular) · vienas(feminine, nominative, plural) · viena(genitive, masculine, singular) · vienu(genitive, masculine, plural) · vienas(feminine, genitive, singular) · vienu(feminine, genitive, plural) · vienam(dative, masculine, singular) · vieniem(dative, masculine, plural) · vienai(dative, feminine, singular) · vienām(dative, feminine, plural) · vienu(accusative, masculine, singular) · vienus(accusative, masculine, plural) · vienu(accusative, feminine, singular) · vienas(accusative, feminine, plural) · vienu(instrumental, masculine, singular) · vieniem(instrumental, masculine, plural) · vienu(feminine, instrumental, singular)