valandos

Valandos is a term that primarily refers to "hours" in several Baltic languages, most notably Lithuanian. It is the standard unit of time measurement for a period of sixty minutes. The word itself is derived from Proto-Indo-European roots related to time and counting. In everyday Lithuanian conversation, "valandos" is used ubiquitously, from discussing daily schedules to planning long-term events. For example, someone might say they have "dvi valandos" (two hours) to complete a task or that a meeting will last "viena valanda" (one hour). The concept of an hour as a division of the day is universal, and "valandos" serves this function within the Lithuanian language. Beyond its literal meaning, the term can sometimes be used metaphorically to denote a period or a specific time within a larger context, though its primary and most common usage remains the literal measurement of time. The plural form "valandos" is used when referring to more than one hour, while the singular form "valanda" refers to a single hour.