rets

rets

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of ret

• 'rest, -estr-, -ster, ERTs, REST, Rest., SERT, TERs, erst, estr-, rest, rest., tres

rets

1. second-person singular present indicative of retre

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁad̥s], [ˈʁɑd̥s]
• Homophone: rats

rets c

1. indefinite genitive singular of ret

Inherited from Old French reiz, rez, rei (with spelling re-Latinized in modern French), from Latin rēte.

• IPA^(key): /ʁɛ/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

rets m pl (plural only)

1. (hunting, figurative) snare
2. (fishing) net

• réseau

• “rets”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• (dialectal form) rēds

From Proto-Baltic *retas and cognate with Lithuanian rẽtas. Probably also related to Proto-Slavic *rědъkъ and Latvian dialectal rēds, but there is no clear explanation for the difference in vowel length. Traditionally further compared with irt (“to disintegrate, to fall apart”), but this seems problematic if irt derives from laryngeal-final *h₂erH-.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ɾæts]

rȩts (definite retais, comparative retāks, superlative visretākais, adverb reti)

1. thin, sparse (formed of a number of similar elements placed at a relatively large distance from one another)

   rets priedulājs ― thin, sparse pine forest

   mežs bija pietiekami rets ― the forest was rather thin, sparse

   reti mati ― thin hair

   reta ķemme ― wide-tooth(ed) (lit. thin, sparse) comb

2. sparse (not close to one another)

   grābeklis ar retiem zariem ― rake with rare, sparse prongs

   reti koki ― sparse trees

3. (of fabric, cloth) thin (with gaps, spaces between the threads)

   reta auduma maisiņš ― little sack of thin cloth (= having gaps)

4. (of gazes, fog, air, etc.) thin (not concentrated)

   rets kalnu gaiss ― thin mountain air

   migla kļuva retāka un caurspīdīgāka ― the mist became thinner and more transparent

5. (of groups of people) thin (having few members)

   viņu rindas bija kļuvušas retākas ― their lines, ranks had become thinner

6. rare (of which there is only a small number)

   reti augi ― rare plants

   retie ķīmiskie elementi, metāli ― rare chemical elements, metals

   retas rokrakstu grāmatas ― rare manuscript books

7. rare, infrequent, uncommon (not widely known, distributed, used)

   rets vārdu savienojums ― rare, uncommon word combination

   rets izteiciens ― rare expression

   reta tautasdziesmas melodija ― rare folk tune

8. rare, uncommon (not normal, not ordinary)

   Ubāns ir viens no tiem retajiem māksliniekiem, kurš spēj atklāt skatītājam savu pasauli ― Ubāns is one of those rare artists who are able to open their world to the viewer

9. (definite forms) rare one(s) (only a few, not many)

   viņa piederēja pie tiem retajiem, kas prot klausīties ― she belonged to (those) rare (people) who know how to listen

   mums varoņu daudz... vien retajam uzcelts piemineklis ― we have many heroes... only to a rare one (= a few) a monument is built

10. rare, infrequent (repeated only after long intervals)

    pa retam ― rarely

    rets gadījums ― rare case

    retajos brīvajos vakaros māte mums lasīja ― in the rare free evenings mother used to read to us

11. rare (which appears, happens infrequently)

    reti viesi ― rare guests

    labs draugs ir reta manta pasaulē ― a good friend is a rare treasure on earth

• (of "thin", "sparse"): plāns

• (antonym(s) of “of "thin", "sparse", "not dense", "with gaps or spaces"”): blīvs, biezs
• (antonym(s) of “of "rare"”): biežs

• retums

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

Cognate with Latvian rets (“rare”), rēds (dialectal), Lithuanian retas, Proto-Slavic *rědъkъ (“rare, thin”).

rets m

1. rare, thin