Latvian

How to spell latvian

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce latvian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does latvian mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to Latvia, its people, language, or culture.
2. nounA person from Latvia, or the Baltic language spoken there.

Latvian in a sentence

• adjective

  The latvian coast along the Baltic Sea draws summer visitors.

• noun

  As a latvian, he grew up speaking the language at home in Riga.

• adjective

  She ordered a traditional latvian rye bread at the market.

• noun

  The menu was printed in both English and latvian for the tourists.

Where does latvian come from?

Language of origin: Other

This word is an English formation built from the country name Latvia plus the suffix -ian, which comes through Latin -ianus and signals 'belonging to' or 'a native of'. Latvia itself takes its name from the Latgalians (in Latvian, Latgaļi), one of the ancient Baltic tribes who settled the eastern Baltic coast long before the modern state existed. Their tribal name spread to cover the whole nation and its Baltic language, a close relative of Lithuanian. English began using Latvia and Latvian widely in the early twentieth century, when the country first gained independence after the First World War. The spelling trap sits in the quiet middle: the 'tv' cluster has no vowel between the letters, and the ending is the standard -ian (as in Russian or Estonian), not -ion or -ean.

How the word is built

• Latv- (Latvia, from the Latgalians, a Baltic tribe)
• -ian (adjective and noun suffix meaning 'of or belonging to')