țesut

Forms

țesut n (plural țesuturi)^[1] The adjective inflects țesut, țesută, țesuți, țesute.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is the past participle from Romanian țese (“to weave”), used as an adjective and as a noun.^[2][3][4][1] The verb continues Latin texō (“to weave”).^[5][3]

The biological sense “tissue” follows French tissu.^[6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the adjective in the Govora homiliary of 1642.^[4] The Bible of 1688 uses țesută and țesute for woven cloth, as in Exodus 28:28.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Besides “woven” the participle meant “darned, mended” and “embroidered”, and was said of a spider's web; figuratively it was said of something contrived or spun out.^[4][10][2] As a noun it named the act and craft of weaving, as in I. Ionescu's cu torsul, adică țesutul “with the spinning, that is the weaving”, and rarely a woven fabric.^[7]

The anatomical sense, a group of similar cells with one function, appears in 1857 in a textbook of descriptive anatomy, modelled on French tissu.^[3][7] It has become the commonest use of the noun, with phrases such as țesut nervos and țesut conjunctiv.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1642 – the adjective “woven”, in the Govora homiliary.^[4]
• 1688 – țesută, țesute in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1800 – the adjective in Molnar's translation of Millot's universal history.^[3]
• 1857 – the noun “tissue” in a textbook of descriptive anatomy.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of weaving; the craft of weaving.^[2][3]
2. (rare) A woven fabric, the weave of a cloth.^[2][7]
3. (biology) A tissue: a set of animal or plant cells with the same structure and function: țesut nervos “nervous tissue”.^[2][6]

Adjective

1. woven on a hand or power loom.^[2][3]
2. darned, mended.^[2]
3. hora țesută: the name of a folk dance.^[7][3]

Related words

• țese
• țesătură
• țesător
• French tissu

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1161
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. 2, 1331
4. ^ 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. țesut
5. ^ 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. țese
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. țesut
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. țesut
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1364
9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 28:28
10. ^ Gaster, M. (1891), Chrestomatie română: texte tipărite și manuscrise (sec. XVI–XIX), dialectale și populare, cu o introducere, gramatică și un glosar româno-francez, vol. II, Leipzig: Brockhaus / București: Socec, p. s.v. țesut