kelias

Lithuanian

Etymology

Cognate with Latvian ceļš (“road, way”). Not confidently explained.^[1]

Fraenkel: Related to Ancient Greek κέλευθος (kéleuthos, “path”) (English acolyte).
Smoczyński: From Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to move in a circle”), like Sanskrit चरति (carati, “to move”).^[2]
Derksen: From kélti (“to lift, transfer”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to raise”). Cognate with, cel̃t (“to lift, transfer”).^[3]^[4]
? From Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“road, path track, way”), same ultimate source as Ancient Greek κέλευθος (kéleuthos), English acolyte.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Did *kel-/path exist in PIE or is this a later development?”)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [²ˈkʲæːlʲɛs]
Rhymes: -æːlʲɛs
Syllabification: kẽ‧lias

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Noun

kẽlias m (plural keliai̇̃) stress pattern 4

road
way

Declension

Declension of **kẽlias**
	singular	plural
nominative	kẽlias	keliai̇̃
genitive	kẽlio	kelių̃
dative	kẽliui	keliáms
accusative	kẽlią	keliùs
instrumental	keliù	keliai̇̃s
locative	kelyjè	keliuosè
vocative	kelỹ	keliai̇̃

Derived terms

kelionė

References

^ “kẽlis” in Hock et al., Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch 2.0 (online, 2020–); p. 546 in ALEW 1.1 (online, 2019).
^ Wojciech Smoczyński (2018), “kelias”, in Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, Berlin, Germany: Peter Lang, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 271-2
^ Derksen, Rick (2015), “kelias”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 235
^ “kelias”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012