îngrozitor

Forms

îngrozitor m or n (feminine singular îngrozitoare, masculine plural îngrozitori, feminine/neuter plural îngrozitoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian îngrozi (“to terrify”) + -tor.^[2][3][4][1] îngrozi is either formed on groază with the prefix în- or a loan of Old Church Slavonic грозити (groziti, “to threaten”), later given the prefix.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1703.^[4] Klein's dictionary of 1801 has Ingrozitóriu, glossed with Latin terrefactor “one who frightens”.^[6] MDA2 cites it from the poems of Costache Conachi, in the 1886 edition.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective means “that fills one with dread”, and MDA2 records an old sense “threatening”, matching the old sense of the verb.^[3][5] Used as an adverb it became an intensifier: “terribly, very much” (suferă îngrozitor), and before an adjective with de, “extremely” (îngrozitor de zgârcit).^[2][7] The older form îngrozitoriu is a variant.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1703 – the first record.^[4]
• 1801 – Ingrozitóriu in Klein's dictionary.^[6]
• 1870 – Costinescu glosses it with French redoutable.^[8]
• 1886 – in the edition of Conachi's poems, MDA2's source.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. terrible, dreadful: that terrifies.^[2][3][1]
2. (obsolete) Threatening.^[3]

Adverb

1. terribly, very much, very intensely: Mă dor dinții îngrozitor.^[2][7][1]
2. Before an adjective or adverb, with de: extremely: îngrozitor de frig.^[2][3]

Related words

• groază
• groaznic
• grozav

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 549
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1236
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. îngrozitor
5. ^ a b 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. îngrozi
6. ^ a b c Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 381
7. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. îngrozitor
8. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 594