svece

See also: svecē, свече, and швеце

Latvian

Svece (1)

Aizdedzes svece (2)

Etymology

There are three main hypotheses on the origin of this word: (a) from the same source as sveķi (“resin”) (q.v.): Proto-Indo-European *sʷekʷ-os (“juice, resin”), whence Proto-Baltic *sʷek-as > *sveke, plural *sveki with a number of variants, among which svece; (b) from an earlier *zvece, cognate with Lithuanian žvãkė (“candle”), both from Proto-Baltic *žvak-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰʷokʷ- (“to shine”); or (c) borrowed from Old East Slavic свѣча (svěča) (cf. Russian све́ча (svéča)), from Proto-Slavic *svěťa (but note that ě should yield ie or ē in Latvian, not a simple e, which weakens this hypothesis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [svɛtsɛ]

Noun

svece f (5th declension)

1. candle (source of light)

   aizdegt sveci ― to light a candle

   sveču gaisma ― candlelight

   eglīšu sveces ― Christmas tree candles

   gultas galvgalī misiņa lukturī dega pašu lieta tauku svece ― at the head of the bed, a fat candle was burning in a brass lantern

2. spark plug (ignition device in a combustion engine)

   aizdedzes svece ― spark plug (lit. ignition candle)

   šoferis pārbaudīja motoram sveces ― the driver checked the engine plugs

3. (physics) unit of luminous intensity

   starptautiskā svece ― international candle (= candela)

   dega viena vienīga piecdesmit sveču gaismas spuldzīte ― a single small 50-candela light bulb was burning

Declension

Declension of svece (5th declension)

	singular	plural
nominative	svece	sveces
genitive	sveces	sveču
dative	svecei	svecēm
accusative	sveci	sveces
instrumental	sveci	svecēm
locative	svecē	svecēs
vocative	svece	sveces

Derived terms

• sveču mēnesis