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ștează

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word ștează

ștează1 fulling mill

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1473 place name in a Slavonic–Romanian document

Forms

ștează f (plural șteze)[1] A variant steadză is recorded in the folklore journal Șezătoarea; the plural is also ștezi.[2]

Etymology

The word for the fulling mill is of unknown origin, according to DEX, Tiktin, the DLR and Ciorănescu.[3][2][4][5] Diculescu, in his study of the old Greek elements of Romanian, proposed Ancient Greek σχεδία (skhedía, “raft”);[5][4] Ciorănescu finds this doubtful.[5][4] MDA2 compares the Greek word too.[6] Ciorănescu adds that if the word is the same as ștează2 “rod”, the change of meaning remains to be explained.[5][1] For the senses “waterfall” and “mill sluice” the DLR and MDA2 compare German Stausee (“reservoir”).[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a place name, Șteaza lui Vlaștin, in a Slavonic–Romanian document of 1473.[2] MDA2 cites it from D. Bogdan's glossary of the Romanian words in these documents.[6]

Semantic evolution

The ștează is the fulling mill of Transylvania and Bucovina, where woollen cloth is beaten, and by extension the building that houses it.[3][4] Pamfile records it as another name of the piuă, and Apolzan notes that newly woven cloth was taken “to the ștează”.[4] In Transylvania the name also covers the tub of the mill in which the cloth is beaten.[6] In Bucovina it is a simple round enclosure of wicker set under a fall of water, where rugs and frieze are thickened and fluffed.[3][4] Regionally it is also the waterfall itself and the sluice of a mill.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1473 – the place name Șteaza lui Vlaștin.[2]
  • 1893–1895 – in Damé's dictionary.[4]
  • 1939 – in Scriban's dictionary, as a word of Transylvania.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (regional) A fulling mill for beating cloth; piuă; by extension, the building that houses it.[3][6][1]
  2. (regional, Transylvania) The tub of a fulling mill, in which the cloth is beaten.[6][4]
  3. (regional, Bucovina) A round wicker enclosure under a fall of water, for thickening woollen fabrics.[3][4]
  4. (regional) A waterfall; the sluice of a mill.[6][7]

Word family

  • șteza
  • ștezar

ștează2 rod, stick, bar

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1926 Lucian Costin's Graiul bănățean
Inherited from
Latin schidia
Ultimate origin
Latin schidia

Forms

ștează f (plural șteze)[1]

Etymology

The word for the rod is inherited from Latin schidia (“splinter, chip of wood”), as Diculescu, Pușcariu and the REW explain it.[5][9][1] The Latin word comes from Ancient Greek σχίδια (skhídia).[1][10] It has descendants in Italian and French: Italian scheggia and French esquille.[5][9] Ciorănescu would rather start from scida, from Ancient Greek σχίδη (skhídē, “strip”).[5] MDA2 and the DLR give it as of unknown origin, the DLR citing Diculescu's *scidia only for comparison.[6][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR date the first record to Lucian Costin's study of the Banat dialect (1926), in the sense “crossbar, lath”.[6][11]

Semantic evolution

In north-western Oltenia and south-eastern Banat the word means a crossbar or lath, and locally the rung of a ladder.[11][6] Near Băile Herculane it is the wooden rod on which the meshes of a fishing net are knitted with the netting needle.[11] Ciorănescu defines it by this last use: the rod that keeps the meshes of a net apart.[5]

Timeline

  • 1926 – “crossbar, lath” in Costin's Graiul bănățean.[6][11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (regional, Oltenia, Banat) A crossbar; a lath.[6][11][1]
  2. (regional) The rung of a ladder; fuscel.[6][7]
  3. (regional) The wooden rod on which the meshes of a fishing net are knitted.[6][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ștează
  3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1094
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ștează 1
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ștează
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1126
  7. ^ a b c Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. ștează
  8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1287
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7689
  10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. schidia
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ștează 2

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Ștează.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/%C8%99teaz%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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