laikyti

Laikyti is a Lithuanian verb meaning to hold, to keep, to retain, and to maintain. It can also mean to detain someone or to regard or consider something in a certain way. The word is versatile and appears in both everyday speech and formal contexts, with uses ranging from physical possession to abstract states and judgments.

Common uses include taking a direct object for physical items: laikyti knygą means to hold a book, and laikyti šaldytuve pieną means to keep milk in the refrigerator. It also expresses maintenance of a state or condition, as in laikyti temperatūrą meaning to maintain a temperature. With abstract content, it can mean to hold or maintain an opinion: laikyti nuomonę means to hold an opinion. In legal language, laikyti can mean to detain or keep in custody.

Conjugation overview: Present indicative is laikau, laikai, laiko, laikome, laikote, laiko. Past tense is laikiau, laikė, laikėme, laikėte, laikė. The future forms are laikysiu, laikys, laikys, laikysime, laikysite, laikys. The imperative forms are laikyk and laikykite. Participle forms include laikęs (masculine singular) and laikusi (feminine singular). The related noun laikymas denotes the act of keeping or the state of being kept, and is also used for storage or preserving something.

Examples: Ji laikė knygą rankose. Laikykite šią nuomonę iki susitikimo. Šis įstatymas laikomas teisingu. These usages illustrate laikyti’s wide applicability to physical action, state maintenance, opinion holding, and legal contexts.