Derived with the suffix +-ains (and made into a masculine 2nd-declension noun in-is) from an old verb*kukt(“to bend, to be/become bent, twisted”), fromProto-Baltic*kuk-, fromProto-Indo-European*kew-,*kū-,*ku-(“to bend, to flex”). Alongsidekukt, there are other verbs derived from the same stem that refer to ways of moving around:kukņāties (dialectal) “to huddle up, to roll up, to become entangled, to try to stand up,”kuknīties “to do something clumsily, to go with effort, to jostle, to hustle,”kūkurot “to drag oneself along, to trudge.” If these terms are semantically related tokukainis, then its original meaning was something like “(little) animal that creeps, trudges along, rolls up into a ball (e.g., when touched).” The word originally applied only to certain species of (usually harmful) insects; its meaning began expanding in the 18th century, but in the late 19th century it was still mostly applied only to winged insects. The extension to all insects was suggested by H. Kavals in the 1860s, and adopted byK. Valdemārs in his dictionary. Cognates includeLithuanian dialectalkukainis(“toad”),kukainiai(“amphibians”) (probablyborrowings fromLatvian).[1]
kukainis m (2nd declension)
Kukainis is the usual term for “insect” inLatvian; its synonyminsekts is rarer, and usually more academic or learned.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | kukainis | kukaiņi |
| genitive | kukaiņa | kukaiņu |
| dative | kukainim | kukaiņiem |
| accusative | kukaini | kukaiņus |
| instrumental | kukaini | kukaiņiem |
| locative | kukainī | kukaiņos |
| vocative | kukaini | kukaiņi |
