încura

Forms

încura (third-person singular present încură, past participle încurat); first conjugation.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *incurrāre (“to make run”), a factitive of Latin currō (“to run”), as Pușcariu proposed in the journal Dacoromania and the DA and DER accept.^[2][3] DEX and MDA2 give the same reconstruction.^[4][5] Tiktin instead takes it from Latin incurrō (“to run at”) with a changed meaning.^[6] Its relative is the old verb cure “to run”, inherited from the same Latin verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Năsturel's text of 1649, printed in Gaster's chrestomathy: „Se încura toți de frica împăratului” “they all ran for fear of the emperor”.^[6] MDA2 cites Văcărescu's poems, where a rider sends his horse galloping up and down the hill.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The DA calls the verb popular in Muntenia and Dobruja.^[2] Its main use is for racing horses, especially at the horse races held on St Theodore's day (Sân-Toader), and also at Epiphany and weddings.^[2] The reflexive is said of horses that break into a run or race one another, then of riders and children who race and frolic.^[5][6]

A learned sense “to chase away”, with the old form încure, was coined on Latin incurrere.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1649 – Năsturel, the first record.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, dated, regional) To drive a horse at a gallop; to make it race.^[4][5]
2. (reflexive, of horses) To break into a run; to race one another; to run freely.^[4][1]
3. (reflexive, figurative) Of people, to race one another, to romp.^[5]

Word family

• încurătură

Related words

• cure
• curge

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. încura
3. ^ a b 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. cure
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 543
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1218
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. încura