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înfurci

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word înfurci

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1840 Poenar, Aaron and Hill's French–Romanian dictionary More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin furca
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin furca
Romanian furcă
Romanian înfurci
From the same root
Latin furcifer ← furca
Romanian furcătură ← furcă
Romanian furcea ← furcă

Forms

a înfurci (third-person singular present înfurcește, past participle înfurcit; 4th conjugation)[1] A variant of the first conjugation, înfurca, is also used.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian în- + furcă, as DEX, MDA2, Tiktin and Wikționar state.[2][3][4][5] Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu derived it from Vulgar Latin *infurcō, as Ciorănescu reports.[6] The noun is furca (“fork”).[6] It is matched by Aromanian nfurcu.[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1840, of roads that fork.[4] MDA2 dates it from Costinescu's dictionary of 1870.[3]

Timeline

  • 1840 – the first record.[4]
  • 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (reflexive, dated or popular, of roads and rivers) To fork, to bifurca.[2][8]
  2. (reflexive reciprocal, dated or popular) To quarrel or come to blows with someone.[2][9]
  3. (regional, as înfurca) To take hay or the like with a pitchfork.[3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 547
  3. ^ 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, 1230
  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. înfurci
  5. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ 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. furcă
  7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 725
  8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. înfurci
  9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 634
Cite this entry

“Înfurci.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/%C3%AEnfurci. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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