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Baltic

bal·tic

UK/ˈbɒl.tɪk/ US/ˈbɔːl.tɪk/ uncommon uk
adjective (2) noun (2)

adjective

1.

of or pertaining to or characteristic of the Baltic States or their peoples or languages

2.

of or near or on the Baltic Sea

  • “The Baltic republics”

noun

1.
2.

a branch of the Indo-European family of languages related to the Slavonic languages; Baltic languages have preserved many archaic features that are believed to have existed in Proto-Indo European

Synonyms

Origin

From Latin Balticus, from Latin Balthae (“dwellers near the Baltic sea”); equivalent to Balt + -ic. The ultimate origin of the ethnonym is unknown, but possibilities include: * Related to Lithuanian baltas (“white”) and Proto-Slavic *bolto (“swamp, bog, mud”), which are likely from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel(H)- (“white”) via Proto-Balto-Slavic *bálˀtas (“white”). This supposes a semantic shift in Baltic from “white” to something like “marsh” or “sea”, paralleling that in the Slavic cognate. (However, the only such parallels attested from Baltic occur in Lithuanian balà (“swamp, mire, morass; puddle”) and Latvian bala (“loamy valley without trees, swamp, depression”), which are not only semantically more distant but crucially lack the *-t- suffix.) On the other hand, similar words for “swamp, marsh” throughout Europe have been considered substrate words; more at *bolto and baltë. * From a hypothetical derivative of Proto-Germanic *baltijaz (itself borrowed from Latin balteus (“belt”)), originally referring to the Danish straits, "the Belts". This is suggested by Adam of Bremen, who in the 11th century first recorded the name (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Sci...

Phrases

  • Baltic languages terms derived from Baltic (proper noun)
  • Baltic pine
  • Baltic region terms derived from Baltic (proper noun)
  • Baltic Sea terms derived from Baltic (proper noun)
  • Baltic Shield terms derived from Baltic (proper noun)
  • New Prussian other terms associated with Baltic (proper noun)
  • Old Prussian other terms associated with Baltic (proper noun)

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Pertaining to

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.