îngusta

Forms

a îngusta (third-person singular present îngustează, past participle îngustat; 1st conjugation)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin angustō (“to make narrow”), as DEX, MDA2, Tiktin, the DA and Wiktionary give it.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The REW lists the Romanian verb and Spanish angostar under it, and Candrea–Densusianu add Catalan angostar.^[6][7] The Latin verb is formed on angustus (“narrow”).^[8][1] Ciorănescu lists it as a derivative of îngust “narrow”, noting that Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW take it directly from Latin.^[9]

It is matched by Aromanian ngustedz, which Wiktionary explains with the suffix -edz.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1703.^[4] MDA2 dates it from a document of before 1762 in the Uricariul, where a piece of land narrows towards its end, as all the boundaries do there.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb is first used of land and boundaries;^[5] Ion Ionescu writes of fields being enlarged and pastures narrowed.^[5] Polizu records s'a îngustat pânza of cloth that has shrunk in water.^[5] The figurative sense “to reduce, to belittle” appears in Odobescu, who says he does not mean to belittle the role of the Ottomans.^[5][11]

Timeline

• 1703 – the first record.^[4]
• before 1762 – îngustându-se of land in a document of the Uricariul.^[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To make or become narrower.^[2][3][1]
2. (figurative) To reduce, to limit, to restrict.^[2][3]
3. (reflexive, rare, of cloth) To shrink in water.^[3][4]

Word family

• îngustare

Related words

• îngust
• strâmta
• Aromanian ngustedz

Usage notes

The present is îngustez;^[5][4] îngust is rarer.^[5][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1237
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. îngusta
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. îngusta
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 467
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. îngusta
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. angustō
9. ^ 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. îngust
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 754
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 327