lapaj

See also: łapaj

Slovak

Etymology

Uncertain. Probably from lapať (to grab, to snatch) +‎ -aj, originally meaning "one who grabs" hence "one who takes what does not belong to him"; compare also older lapajný (greedy, insatiable). For the further weakening of the negative meaning compare huncút. For a possible sound-symbolic origin compare also loptoš. Compare the similar formation in Polish łaps. First attested in the 18th century.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lapaj/, [ˈlapaɪ̯]
  • Rhymes: -apaj
  • Hyphenation: la‧paj

Noun

lapaj m pers (female equivalent lapajka, relational adjective lapajský, diminutive lapajko, augmentative lapajisko)

  1. scoundrel
    Synonyms: beťár, figliar, huncút, prefíkanec, šibal

Declension

Declension of lapaj
(pattern chlap)
singularplural
nominativelapajlapaji
genitivelapajalapajov
dativelapajovilapajom
accusativelapajalapajov
locativelapajovilapajoch
instrumentallapajomlapajmi

References

  1. ^ Králik, Ľubor (2016), “lapaj”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny [Concise Etymological Dictionary of Slovak] (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA; JÚĽŠ SAV, →ISBN, page 318

Further reading

  • lapaj”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026