censonis

Latvian

Etymology

From censt(ies) (“to try”) +‎ -onis. The standard stem for this verb has š (es cenšos, “I try”), but dialectally also t (es centos), which explains why there are derived forms with t, like centīgs, centība (“zeal”), and with s, like censonis (“striver, fighter, assiduous person”) or sacensība (“competition”) (and also, colloquially, censīgs, censība).[1]

Noun

censonis m (2nd declension, feminine form: censone)

  1. striver, fighter, assiduous person (someone who, while overcoming difficulties, tries to achieve a goal; someone who dedicates himself, all his strength, to a goal)
    dzīves sūrums agrāk apraka jauno censoņu sapņus ― life's bitterness soon buried the young fighters' dreams
    viņš domā par censoņiem, viņu sapņiem, viņu cīniņiem ― he thought about the strivers, their dreams, their struggles

Declension

Declension of censonis (2nd declension)
singular plural
nominative censonis censoņi
genitive censoņa censoņu
dative censonim censoņiem
accusative censoni censoņus
instrumental censoni censoņiem
locative censonī censoņos
vocative censoni censoņi

References

  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “censties”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca [Latvian Etymological Dictionary]‎[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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