țipăt

Forms

țipăt n (plural țipete)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian țipa + -ăt, from the verb “to scream”.^{[2][1][3][4][5]} The verb itself is of unknown origin.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to 1550–1580, in a text of the second volume of Hasdeu's Cuvente den bătrâni;^[3][4] Tiktin dates the same record to about 1550.^[3][4] The sense was already “a loud, sharp cry”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a human cry of pain or fear runs through the old texts: Tiktin quotes Moxa, where everywhere there were sighs and laments with tears and cries, suspini și plângeri cu lacrămi și țipete.^[4] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons use it to gloss Slavonic words for a cry and a shriek.^[6] MDA2 and DLRLC also record it for the cries of birds and animals, the sharp note of an instrument or a siren, and the screech of machines or of something breaking.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1550–1580 – the first record, in a text published in Hasdeu's Cuvente den bătrâni.^[3][4]
• 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[6]
• 1688 – țipăt in the Bucharest Bible, Matthew 2:18.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sharp cry, a scream of pain, fear or anger.^[2][3][1]
2. The cry of a bird or other animal.^[3][7]
3. A loud, high sound of a musical instrument or a siren; the sharp noise of a machine in use, or of something breaking.^[3]

Related words

• țipa
• țipător
• țipenie

Usage notes

DEX gives the variant țipet;^[2][3] MDA2 also records a regional feminine țipetă.^[2][3] Regional expressions use it for “not a sound” and “nobody”: nu se aude nici țipătul “not a sound is heard”, nici țipătul de om “not a soul”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 1163
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1343
4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. țipăt
5. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
6. ^ 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. țipăt
7. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 550
8. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Matthew 2:18