șterge

Forms

a șterge (third-person singular present șterge, past participle șters, third-person subjunctive șteargă), third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin extergō (“to wipe off, wipe clean”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin verb is formed ex- + tergō (“to wipe”);^[1][6] Tiktin calls it a late by-form of extergeō.^[1][6] Ciorănescu thinks it was probably confused with abstergeō (“to wipe away”), and the REW also allows that source.^[2][5]

The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian ashtergu and Megleno-Romanian șterg.^[2][7][8] Its Romance cognates include Old French esterdre “to sweep out”, Occitan esterzer, Catalan estargir and Spanish estarcir “to stencil”.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a Gospel text of 1551–1553, at Matthew 21:44.^[6] MDA2 gives the Psaltirea Scheiană of about 1573–1578.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From wiping off water or dirt the verb passed to rubbing out writing, and in the Bible to blotting out sins and names: „Șteargă-să den cartea celor vii” “let them be blotted out of the book of the living” (Psalm 68, 1688).^[6] From there come “to destroy” (a șterge de pe fața pământului “to wipe off the face of the earth”), “to make forgotten” and, reflexively, “to fade, to lose its colour or shine”.^[3][6]

Familiar speech made several further uses.^[3][6] A o șterge or a șterge putina is “to slip away”, a se șterge pe bot “to have to give something up”.^[3][4] A-i șterge cuiva o palmă is “to slap someone”, and Creangă's devil gives Ivan such a slap in his sleep.^[6] Pontbriant already had “to steal” in 1862, and slang keeps it.^[9][10] The newest sense is erasing a recording from magnetic tape.^[3]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – first record, at Matthew 21:44.^[6]
• c. 1573–1578 – in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[4]
• 1688 – șteargă in the Bucharest Bible, at Acts 3:19.^[11]
• 1862 – Pontbriant glosses it “to wipe, to efface” and also “to steal”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To wipe: to rub a surface to remove a liquid or a substance that covers it.^[3][1]
2. (transitive) To erase, rub out or strike out writing or a drawing; to erase a recording; to remove from a register.^[3][1]
3. (reflexive) To lose its shine, relief or colour; to fade, to blur.^[3][1]
4. (transitive and reflexive) To make disappear or to vanish without trace, also from memory: a șterge de pe fața pământului “to wipe out”.^[3]
5. (reflexive and transitive) To brush past someone or something;^[3][1] (rare) to hit.^[3][1]
6. (familiar) To steal.^[10][9][1]
7. a o șterge, a șterge putina: to leave quickly and unseen.^[3][4]

Word family

• ștergar
• ștergător
• ștergătoare
• neșters
• ștersătură
• ștergere
• șters

Related words

• Aromanian ashtergu
• Latin extergō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. șterge
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1127
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3088
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. șterge
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 174
8. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 285
9. ^ a b c Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 701
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. șterge
11. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Acts 3:19