îngroșa

Forms

a îngroșa (third-person singular present îngroașă, past participle îngroșat; 1st conjugation)^[1] An old variant of the fourth conjugation, îngroși, is recorded.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ingrossiāre, from grossus (“thick”), according to MDA2, the DA, Candrea–Densusianu and Wikționar.^[2][3][4][5] Candrea–Densusianu compare Old French engroissier, Occitan engroisar and Catalan engruixar.^[4] DEX and Wiktionary give this Latin verb or a formation from Romanian în- + gros, and Ciorănescu and Tiktin list it only as a derivative of gros.^[6][1][7][8]

It is matched by Aromanian ngrosh “to thicken; to grow proud”.^[9][10][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DA date it from the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583), in Acts 28:27, where the heart of the people has grown thick; the New Testament of 1648 has a form of îngrășa there.^[2][3] Tiktin cites the Psaltirea Scheiană of the same century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From the physical sense, to make or become thick, the verb spread to liquids that thicken or curdle, to a voice that deepens, and to crowds that grow.^[3][6] In old texts and popular use it also meant to make a woman pregnant, and îngroșată was a pregnant woman.^[3][2] Figurative phrases followed: se îngroașă gluma (treaba, lucrul) “things are getting serious”, used by Miron Costin of a quarrel that grew between the Turks and the Poles, and a i se îngroșa obrazul “to grow thick-skinned, to put up with insults”.^[8][3][2] A proverb says that the wolf does not fatten its neck with servants.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1563–1583 – the Codicele Voronețean (Acts 28:27), the first record.^[2][3]
• c. 1660–1670 – îngroș in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon, glossing verbs for growing fat.^[11]
• 1688 – îngroșat in the Bucharest Bible (Acts 28:27).^[12]
• 1749 – a se îngroșa of a sauce in a cookery book.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive, of solid bodies) To become thicker or more voluminous;^[6][1] se îngroașă gluma (treaba, lucrul) “things take a worrying turn”.^[6][1]
2. (transitive) To make something thicker by adding material; to make a line, dot or letter bolder.^[6][2]
3. (reflexive, of liquids and vapours) To become denser;^[6][2] (transitive) to thicken a liquid by adding solids or by boiling.^[6][2]
4. (reflexive, of groups) To grow in number;^[6][2] a îngroșa rândurile “to swell the ranks”.^[6][2]
5. (reflexive, of the voice) To become deeper, lower in pitch.^[6]
6. (transitive, figurative) To exaggerate: a îngroșa culorile.^[13][1]
7. (obsolete or popular) To make a woman pregnant.^[2][3]

Word family

• îngroșare

Related words

• gros
• Aromanian ngrosh

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 j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1236
3. ^ 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. îngroșa
4. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. îngroșa
5. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 549
7. ^ 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. gros
8. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. îngroșa
9. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 732
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 753
11. ^ 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. îngroș
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Acts 28:27
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. îngroșa