vilks

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *wilkas, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos, perhaps from a stem *wel, *welh₂ (“to tear up; to pluck; to plunder; to kill”), whence also vilkt (“to drag, to pull”) (q.v.). The word would originally have been a descriptive nickname ('the killer, the plunderer, the destroyer'), the original name having perhaps become a taboo word. Note that similarly formed nicknames for “wolf” still occur in modern Latvian: pelēcis (“gray one”), mežainis (“forest one”), mežavīrs (“forest man”), vecbrālis (“old brother”), etc. Cognates include Lithuanian vil̃kas, Old Prussian wilkis, Proto-Slavic *vьlkъ (Old Church Slavonic влькъ (vlĭkŭ), Russian волк (volk), Belarusian воўк (voŭk), Ukrainian вовк (vovk), dialetal вівк (vivk), Bulgarian вълк (vǎlk), Czech vlk, Slovak vlk, Polish wilk), Gothic 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐍃 (wulfs), Old English wulf, Old High German wolf, German Wolf, English wolf, Sanskrit वृक (vṛka), Ancient Greek λύκος (lúkos) (< *lukʷos < *wĺ̥kʷos), perhaps also Latin lupus.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vìlks]

Noun

vilks m (1st declension)

1. wolf (esp. Canis lupus)

   pelēkais vilks ― gray wolf

   vilka midzenis ― wolf's lair

   vilku bars ― a pack of wolves

   vilks gaudo, kauc ― the wolf howls

   vilku kaucieni ― wolf howls

   medīt vilkus ― to hunt wolves

   izsalcis kā vilks ― hungry as a wolf

Verb

vilks

1. 3rd person singular future indicative form of vilkt
2. 3rd person plural future indicative form of vilkt

References

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vʲɪlks̪]

Verb

vil̃ks

1. third-person singular future tense of vilkti.
2. third-person plural future tense of vilkti.