înteți

Forms

înteți (third-person singular present întețește, past participle întețit) 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain: DEX and Wiktionary derive it inherited from Vulgar Latin *intītiō, formed on tītiō (“firebrand”), and MDA2 gives that etymon with a reservation.^[2][1][3] The idea goes back to Weigand, who proposed that the Latin verb gave the first-conjugation înteța, which later moved to the verbs in ⟨-i⟩.^[4] The vowel would then be the same as in tăciune from the same Latin noun, unlike ațâța from *attītiō.^[4] The DA objects that such a Latin verb would have given a different Romanian form.^[4] Derivation from that verb with a change of prefix, the REW's view, is no more certain for Ciorănescu.^[5]

DER, the DA and Tiktin call the origin unknown.^[5][4][6] Pușcariu at first derived it from incitō (“to rouse”), through a dissimilation of its consonants, and later left the etymon open.^[5] The DA rejects a link with intensus on formal grounds.^[5] Scriban identified it with the old verb întiști “to push, pursue”, which he took from Slavonic.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1649, where întețesc glosses a Slavonic verb for “to compel, urge”.^[6][7] MDA2 gives Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), where a rider spurs his horse, „cu picioarele din pinteni întețindu-l” “urging it with his heels”.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The DA groups the senses around fire and what is like it: passions, battles, illness, cold and heat.^[4] The transitive verb means “to stir up, make stronger”: „Întețesc para” “they stoke the flame” (Negruzzi), and a spell said while the fire is stoked: „Nu întețesc focul, ci întețesc inima lui” “I am not stoking the fire, but his heart”.^[4][6] As a reflexive it is said of cold, fighting and rain that grow stronger: „Frigul… aci slăbește, aci se întețește” “the cold now eases, now grows sharper” in Ion Ionescu.^[6][4]

From urging a horse it came to mean pressing someone with repeated requests, as in Ispirescu's tale where the daughters press the emperor with their pleas.^[6][8] MDA2 records 25 senses, among them “to hurry” and, of cattle, “to mate”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1649 – întețesc in Mardarie's lexicon.^[7][6]
• 1705 – întețindu-l “urging him on” in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[3][6]
• 1801 – intetzesc glossed Latin impello in Klein's dictionary.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive and transitive) To grow or make stronger, more intense, to intensify: Ploaia s-a întețit spre seară.^[2][3][1]
2. (popular) Of a feeling or sensation, to seize someone with growing force.^[2][3]
3. To pester someone with repeated requests.^[2][10]
4. To spur on a horse.^[3][6]

Related words

• ațâța
• tăciune
• întărâta

Usage notes

A variant înteța, of the first conjugation, is also recorded.^[3][5]

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. 555
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, 1253
4. ^ 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. înteți
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. înteți
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. înteți
7. ^ a b 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. întețesc
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. înteți
9. ^ 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. 383
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. înteți