îmbolnăvi

Forms

îmbolnăvi (third-person singular present îmbolnăvește, past participle îmbolnăvit), 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian în- + bolnăvi (“to fall ill”), the old verb bolnăvi with a prefix.^[2][3][1][4] DELR and Tiktin derive it straight from the adjective bolnav “ill”.^[5][6] The adjective is from Old Church Slavonic, and the simple verb (1566) was formed from it.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the verb to Coresi's Cazania of 1564; old texts also have the simple bolnăvi, used intransitively in the Bible of 1688: „bolnăvi Ezechia până la moarte” “Hezekiah fell sick unto death”.^[6] MDA2's first record is Varlaam's Cazania of 1643, with the old spelling înbolnăvi.^[3] DELR dates îmbolnăvi to Golescu (1826).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The verb has always had two uses: reflexive a se îmbolnăvi “to fall ill” and transitive “to make ill”.^[2][6] Regional speech uses it for “to maim”, and figuratively it means “to upset, grieve someone”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1564 – in Coresi's Cazania.^[6]
• 1566 – the simple bolnăvi in Coresi.^[5]
• 1643 – înbolnăvi in Varlaam's Cazania.^[3]
• 1826 – îmbolnăvi in Golescu, DELR's date.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive) to fall ill, become ill: S-a îmbolnăvit de gripă. “He came down with the flu.”^[2][1]
2. (transitive) to make ill, cause illness.^[2][3]
3. (regional, transitive) to maim, cripple.^[3]
4. (figurative, transitive) to upset or grieve someone.^[3]

Related words

• boală
• bolnav
• boli

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 531
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1183
4. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. boálă
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. îmbolnăví