durnas

Lithuanian

Etymology

Generally considered to be borrowed from a Slavic language, cf. Polish durny (“dumb”) and Russian дурной (durnoj, “foolish”), and ultimately from Proto-Slavic *durьnъ.[1]

An alternative theory based on the names of intoxicating plants posits that the term derives from proto-Baltic, although cognate with the Slavic terms for those plants, e.g., Russian дурман (durman), Lithuanian durnaropė.[2]

Compare also Latvian durns (“crazed, stupefied”) and Old Prussian dūrai (“wild, nervous”), which might be related.

Adjective

durnas m (feminine durna)

  1. stupid
    Synonym: kvailas

References
  1. Fraenkel, Ernst (1962-1965) Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume I-II, Heidelberg-Göttingen: Carl Winter and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
  2. Šeškauskaitė, Daiva and Gliwa, Bernd (December 2006), “Some Lithuanian ethnobotanical taxa: a linguistic view on Thorn Apple and related plants”, in Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, volume 2, issue 1, DOI:10.1186/1746-4269-2-13
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