închiria

Forms

închiria (third-person singular present închiriază, past participle închiriat), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian în- + chirie (“rent”), from the phrase meaning “to give or to take for rent”.^[2][3][1] MDA2 and NODEX give the same analysis.^[4][5] Tiktin simply files it under chirie.^[6] Ciorănescu lists the verb among the derivatives of that noun.^[7]

The noun itself is a Balkan loan, from Ottoman Turkish كرا (kira), which is from Arabic كِرَاء (kirāʔ).^[7][1] Wiktionary and Tiktin also point to Serbo-Croatian kirija and Bulgarian кирия (kirija) as the immediate source.^[8][1] The BER explains the Bulgarian ending from the Turkish case forms in phrases such as “to pay the rent” and thinks the Romanian word probably came through Bulgarian.^[9] The noun is also Aromanian chirie, and Albanian qira belongs to the same group.^[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1818, in the law code of Prince Caragea, in the sense “to let, to rent”.^[6] The same code has the abstract noun închiriere, defined as an agreement by which a building or the produce of land is handed to another for a price and a term.^[3] MDA2 quotes Alecsandri, after Tiktin, for its first record.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The verb has always had both directions: to give for rent and to take for rent, first of houses, then of carriages, horses, boats or a piano.^[3][10] The DA also records a loose use for leasing land, and MDA2 marks “to lease a plot of land” as old.^[3][4] Its derivatives include închiriere “renting”, închiriat “rented” with its negative neînchiriat, închirietor “landlord, lessor” and subînchiria “to sublet”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1818 – închiria and închiriere in Caragea's law code.^[6][3]
• 1893 – închiria “to let, to rent” in Damé's dictionary.^[11]
• 1929 – Șăineanu: to give or take a house, a carriage and the like for rent.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rent or let: to give or to take something movable or immovable for temporary use in exchange for a payment.^[2][4]
2. (dated) To lease land.^[4][3]

Word family

• închiriere
• subînchiria

Related words

• chirie
• chiriaș

Usage notes

The same verb serves both sides of the contract: Am închiriat un apartament “I rented a flat” and Și-a închiriat casa “he let his house”.^[5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 540
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. închiria
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1210
5. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. închiria
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. închiria
7. ^ a b c 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. chirie
8. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. chirie
9. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 382
10. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 316
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. închiria