înfășura

Forms

• înfășura (third-person singular present înfășoară, past participle înfășurat), 1st conjugation^[1]

The first person singular present is înfășor, and also înfășur.^[2] MDA2 records the variant înfășora.^[3]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *infasciolō (“to wrap in bands”), formed on fasciola (“small band”), the diminutive of fascia (“band, strip”).^[4][2][3][1] Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the DA hold this view.^[5] The Latin noun is also the source of Romanian fașă “band; swaddling band”.^[6]

Ciorănescu finds no use for this etymon, which neither the dialects nor the other Romance languages confirm.^[5] He takes the verb as a Romanian derivative of this noun, formed on a plural in ⟨-uri⟩, as îngândura is formed on the plural of gând and înfumura on that of fum.^[5] Wiktionary also allows a derivative of înfășa “to swaddle”, the verb Ciorănescu traces to fasciō (“to swathe”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Eustratie's Pravila of 1632.^[4] The Cazania of Govora of 1642 uses it for Joseph wrapping Jesus' body in linen (Mark 15:46).^[4] MDA2 cites Miron Costin, who describes a skin tied to the leg so that it wrapped the whole foot.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

From “to wrap tightly in a cloth or cover” the verb came to mean “to wind, coil” thread on a spindle or a rope around something.^[7][2] Figuratively it means “to envelop”: Vlahuță wrote that Dan wrapped her in a warm look, „o înfășură într-o privire caldă”.^[4][7] The familiar reflexive sense “to hang about, prowl around” is recent.^[2]

The verb has the derivatives înfășurător and înfășurătură, and desfășura “to unroll, unfold” is its opposite.^[5]

Timeline

• 1632 – in Eustratie's Pravila, the first record.^[4]
• 1642 – “to wrap in” in the Cazania of Govora.^[4]
• c. 1675 – in Miron Costin's chronicle.^[3][7]
• 1678 – înfășurat in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To wrap tightly all round with a cloth, a cover or an insulating material.^[2][3][1]
2. (transitive, figurative) To envelop, surround.^[2][3]
3. (transitive and reflexive) To coil, twist around;^[2][3] (transitive) to wind thread on a ball or spindle.^[2][3]
4. (reflexive, familiar) To hang about, prowl around.^[2][3]

Word family

• înfășurător
• înfășurătură

Related words

• fașă
• înfășa
• desfășura

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 546
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1225
4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. înfășura
5. ^ a b c d e 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. înfășa
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. fașă
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. înfășura
8. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. înfășurat