knašs

From Proto-Baltic *knas- (which, with *-yos, yields *knaš-yos > knašs), from Proto-Indo-European *kn-es-, *kn-os-, from the zero grade of *ken- (“to try, to hurry, to move”). A different hypothesis is that knašs might originally result from methatesis on nasks (q.v.). A third possibility is that it was a borrowing from Baltic German knasch (“hurried, quick, agile”), although it is also quite possible that knasch was borrowed from Latvian knašs, since it was only found in Baltic varieties of German. Cognates include Ancient Greek ἐγκονέω (enkonéō, “to hurry, to be quick and active”), Latin cōnor (“to try, to attempt”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): [knaʃ]

• Audio:

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knašs (definite knašais, comparative knašāks, superlative visknašākais, adverb knaši)

1. quick, fast, swift; also, agile

   knaša meitene ― swift, quick girl

   knašs zēns ― swift, quick boy

   iet knašiem soļiem ― to go with quick, swift steps

   saskubintās knašam riksim, zirgs drīz vien mēgināja pāriet gausākā solī ― spurred into a quick canter, the horse soon tried to shift to a slower pace

• (of "quick"): ašs, ātrs, nasks, straujš, žigls
• (of "agile"): nasks, ņiprs, veikls, vingrs