înfărma

Forms

Verb: third-person singular present înfarmă, past participle înfărmat; 1st conjugation.^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2] MDA2, Tiktin and the DA call it of unknown origin.^[3][4][5] Ciorănescu thinks it may be from Latin fōrmō (“to shape, form”), with an original sense “to wrap”, which would make it a doublet of înforma; he compares făr(â)ma and the double sense “to form; to adorn” of Spanish componer.^[2] Capidan, followed by Drăganu, Giuglea and the DA, derived it from in- and firmō (“to strengthen”), with a semantic shift from “to hold tight” to “to grab”;^[2][5] Ciorănescu finds this less likely.^[2][5] Wiktionary also names īnfōrmō.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Latin–Romanian glossary of Caransebeș (Anonymus Caransebesiensis), which Tiktin dates about 1670 and MDA2 to 1650–1700: Enfarm is glossed with Latin “to adorn, clothe”.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The second sense, “to grab, seize”, is recorded in the Banat: Țichindeal has a smith who „înfărmă o rudă de fier” “seized an iron bar”, and at Oravița l-a înfărmat de păr meant “he grabbed him by the hair”.^[5] Ciorănescu calls it a rare word used only in the Banat.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – enfarm “I adorn, clothe” in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (obsolete, Banat) To clothe, to adorn.^[3][6][1]
2. (Banat) To grab something, to seize.^[3][5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. înfărma
3. ^ a b c d 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 Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. înfărmá
5. ^ 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. înfărma
6. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. înfărma