înviora

Forms

înviora (third-person singular present înviorează, past participle înviorat) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed: DEX and MDA2 call it of unknown origin.^[2][3] Tiktin connects it with viu (“alive”), and Ciorănescu derives it from Romanian în- + viu, through a hypothetical plural ⟨*viuri⟩, as înfumura comes from the plural of fum and îngândura from that of gând.^[4][5] He compares înfășura and cărturar for such plurals.^[5] Wiktionary notes that the adjective also had a now rare noun sense “living being”.^[1] It is from vīvus (“alive”).^[1]

The usual explanation was Vulgar Latin *invīvulō, proposed by Pușcariu and Drăganu and accepted by DA;^[5] Ciorănescu does not find it convincing.^[5] Șăineanu also started from a primitive ⟨viura⟩ and a Latin form of this kind, from vīvō (“to live”), and NODEX gives the same etymon.^[6][7] Pușcariu and DA also suggested a Vulgar Latin *invibrō, from vibrō (“to shake, quiver”), which Ciorănescu rejects as well.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Ștefan Vasilie Piscupescu's health manual Oglinda sănătății of 1829, where spring thaws and „înviorează lucrarea frumuseței pământului” “enlivens the work of the earth's beauty”.^[3][4][8] The same book has the noun înviorare.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From “to give life, revive” the verb came to mean “to bring round, wake from torpor” and, by extension, “to animate, cheer up, embolden”.^[8][2] Ispirescu's tales use it for reviving someone who has fainted with a sprinkle of water.^[4][8] The reflexive also means “to recover after an illness”.^[3][8] Rebreanu uses it of a courtyard growing lively with people and noise.^[9] A dialect form înghiora is recorded, and the rare variant înviori.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 1829 – the verb and înviorare in Piscupescu's Oglinda sănătății, the first record.^[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To make or become (more) lively; to enliven.^[2][3][1]
2. To wake from torpor, to thaw out; to bring round or come round.^[2][3]
3. (by extension) To animate, to cheer up, to embolden.^[2][1]
4. (reflexive) To recover after an illness.^[3][8]

Word family

• înviorare
• înviorător

Related words

• vioi
• viu
• învioșa
• învia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. 561
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, 1270
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. înviora
5. ^ a b c d e 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. înviora
6. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 340
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. înviora
8. ^ 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. înviora
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 689