îmbina

Forms

îmbina (third-person singular present îmbină, past participle îmbinat), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is generally taken as inherited from Vulgar Latin *imbinō (“to unite”), from bīnī (“two each, a pair”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Ciorănescu names the Lexicon de la Buda, Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW for this view, and Tiktin compares combīnō.^[2][5] The REW lists Friulian imbinâ beside it, and Wiktionary also compares Italian binare.^[6][1]

Ciorănescu himself starts from *bīnātī, which survives as Aromanian binats (“twins”) and in Italian binati (“twins”).^[2] Its Romanian outcome would have been read as a past participle and crossed with îngemăna “to twin”, whose sense matches exactly; or the verb was remade on that form.^[2][1] The DAR and Graur rejected the usual etymon, holding the variant înghina and the antonym desghina, dizgl'ina, to be older;^[2] Ciorănescu answers that a verb with des- presupposes a simple verb or one with în-, so that dezbina needs an older verb without the prefix.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1683, in Dosoftei.^[5] MDA2's first record is an 18th-century text in Gaster's chrestomathy, where things “join and stand together”; it also has the old present îmbinează.^[4][7][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is concrete: to fit two pieces together end to end, the opposite of dezbina “to divide”.^[5][8] In a folk tale a hero splits an oak, pushes a beard into the crack and lets the wood close up again, să se îmbine.^[5] Marian uses the reflexive for a spot on a bird's plumage that runs into a stripe.^[5] The DA has the reflexive also for flocks of sheep that get mixed together.^[7]

In the modern language the verb is used for abstract things too: to combine, to unite parts into a whole.^[3][9] MDA2 records the saying se îmbină ziua cu noaptea, said when day begins to break.^[4]

Timeline

• 1683 – in Dosoftei, the first record.^[5]
• 18th century – îmbinează in a text printed in Gaster's chrestomathy.^[7][4]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda derives it from Latin, the first statement of the usual etymology.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To join two pieces or objects end to end; to fit together.^[8][2]
2. To combine, unite or link elements, concrete or abstract, into a whole: Ea îmbină studiul cu munca.^[3][9][1]
3. (reflexive) To merge, to blend together.^[3][7]

Word family

• îmbinare
• îmbinător
• neîmbinat
• dezbina

Related words

• îngemăna
• combina
• Latin bīnī

Usage notes

Ciorănescu and the REW record a variant înghina.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. îmbina
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 531
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1181
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. îmbina
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4280
7. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. îmbina
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. îmbina
9. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. îmbina