From kurpe (shoe) +‎ -nieks. An old formation, it was the example on the basis of which J. Alunāns suggested using the suffix -nieks more broadly to derive names of craftsmen.[1]




kurpnieks m (1st declension, feminine form: kurpniece)

  1. (male) cobbler, shoemaker (craftsman who makes or repairs shoes, boots, sandals and other footwear)
    kurpnieku darbnīca‎ ― cobbler workshop
    kurpnieku meistars, māceklis‎ ― master, apprentice cobbler
    viņa skatījās uz manām kurpēm un teica, ka būšot drīz jau cauras, vajagot pie laika dot kurpniekam‎ ― she looked at my shoes and said that they would soon have holes and (that) it would be necessary to take (lit. give) them to the cobbler's
  2. (usually in the plural) a game in which there is a dialogue between the participants and a person in the middle, at the end of which the person in the middle drops a stick and everybody changes places
    iet kurpniekos‎ ― to play this game (lit. to go in the cobblers)
    pa vakariem visi gāja kurpniekos un citās rotaļās‎ ― in the evenings everybody played (lit. went in the) cobblers and other games


Usage notesEdit

The usual term for “cobbler” is kurpnieks; apavnieks is rare or official.



  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “kurpe”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7