închisoare

Forms

închisoare f (plural închisori)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian închis + -oare, from the participle of închide with an abstract suffix, like prinsoare.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of that verb, which is from Latin inclūdō with the senses of claudō.^[6]

Aromanian forms the same noun: Aromanian ncljisoari, from its participle and the same suffix.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to the 16th century, in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[5] At first it was an abstract noun, “the state of being shut in, detention”: Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints (1682–1686) says of a man that “having filled 20 years with imprisonments, he died” (împlând 20 de ai cu închisorile, să sfârși).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

DA notes that the old language had to say where a person was kept, with additions such as în temniță “in the dungeon”: the old law code it quotes speaks of a wife held la închisoare în temniță “in confinement in the prison”.^[2] From “detention” the word passed to “captivity” and, figuratively, “bondage”, senses MDA2 marks as obsolete.^[3] By extension it came to mean the penalty itself and the building where prisoners are held, today's main senses.^[2][4]

A regional sense keeps the older idea of an enclosed space: an enclosure for cattle, a fence round a well.^[4][8] Tiktin also records it for a barrier in log rafting.^[5] Slang has dozens of words for the prison, among them pârnaie, mititica and zdup.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1573–1578 – first record, in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[5]
• 1682–1686 – “detention” in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints, MDA2's first record.^[3][2]
• 1688 – închisoare in the Bucharest Bible (Genesis 40:14).^[10]
• 1870 – the sense “prison sentence”, recorded by Costinescu.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A prison or jail: the building or place where a person serves a sentence of deprivation of liberty; synonyms temniță, pușcărie, penitenciar.^[4][3]
2. (law) A prison sentence, one of the main penalties, the loss of liberty under a regime set by law: închisoare pe viață “life imprisonment”.^[4][3]
3. (obsolete) Detention, captivity;^[3][2] (figurative) bondage: a ține pe cineva la închisoare “to keep someone locked up”.^[3][2]
4. (rare) An enclosure or fenced place, as for cattle.^[4][8]

Related words

• închis
• închide
• prinsoare
• Aromanian ncljisoari

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. închisoare
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1210
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 540
5. ^ 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. închisoare
6. ^ 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. închide
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 712
8. ^ a b Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. s.v. închisoare
9. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. închisoare
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 40:14