Crăciun

Forms

Crăciun n (plural Crăciunuri)^[1]

Etymology

The origin of the word has been debated for more than a century.^[2][3][1]

The view most dictionaries give is inherited from Latin creātiō (“creation, begetting, birth”), from the accusative ⟨creātiōnem⟩.^[4][5][6][7] Densusianu proposed it, and Tiktin finds it the most convincing.^[3][8] Ciorănescu supports it with the sense “child”, as in Sardinian criatzione and Spanish criazón: the word would first have meant the infant Jesus, which would explain its use as a personal name.^[2][1] DELR objects that the Latin noun was inherited by no Romance language and finds that chain of meanings unlikely.^[3] Rosetti pointed to two sound problems, ⟨cră-⟩ for the expected ⟨cre-⟩ and ⟨-un⟩ for the expected ⟨-une⟩, and assumed a Slavic intermediary;^[9][2] Graur and Ciorănescu answer that ⟨r⟩ before a hard syllable explains ⟨cră-⟩ and that ⟨-un⟩ is like that of păun and tăun.^[9][2] The DA notes an old pronunciation with rhotacism, ⟨crăciur⟩, which only words of the Latin layer have.^[10]

Other Latin sources have been proposed: Latin calātiō (“calling of the people at the start of each month”) (Papahagi, Pușcariu, the REW), Latin incarnātiō (“incarnation”) (the Lexicon de la Buda), Latin crastinum (“the next day”) (Hasdeu), and a phrase with Latin iēiūnium (“fast”), “Christ's fast” (Schuchardt), compare ajun.^[2][3][8] DELR's own preference is a substrate word for the log burned on Christmas night, a sense kept in Aromanian, compared by Çabej with Albanian kërcu (“stump, log”).^[3] It points to the same custom behind Latvian bluķa vakars “log evening” and Albanian nata e buzmit (“night of the log”).^[3] Graur also cites Çabej's view.^[9]

The word has close relatives in the neighbouring languages: Bulgarian крачун (kračun), Macedonian крачун (kračun), Slovak kračún, Ukrainian керечун (kerečun), Russian корочун (koročun, “winter solstice; death”), Old East Slavic корочунъ (koročunŭ) from 1143, and Hungarian karácsony.^[11][2][1] Cihac, Weigand, Rosetti and Vasmer took the Romanian word from Slavic, from Proto-Slavic *korčiti (“to step”).^[2][3][11] DELR and Ciorănescu think the opposite: Romanian passed it to Hungarian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Slovak dialects.^[3][2] The TESz takes the Hungarian word from Slavic, comparing the Bulgarian dialect word.^[12] The forms south of the Danube are Aromanian Crãciun and Megleno-Romanian Crățun.^[2][3][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a personal name, Crachun, in a charter of 1211.^[3][8] Tiktin adds the personal name Karachun in 1351.^[8] MDA2's first record in a Romanian text is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary of the later 17th century, where the word also glosses December.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is the Christian feast of the Nativity on 25 December.^[5][4] Around it grew popular customs and their names: Moș Crăciun, the old man who brings gifts; the icon of the Nativity that priests carry from house to house; and in Moldavia and Bucovina the Christmas loaf kept until spring and put on the horns of the oxen at the first ploughing.^[10][5][2] Crăciunul mic “the little Christmas” is New Year's Day, and Crăciunul sătul “the sated Christmas” is the custom of killing the pig.^[5][8]

In folk use the word could also mean the whole year, and in regional slang a cudgel or a blow.^[5] The verb crăciuni “to kill by cutting, as the Christmas pig” is from Muntenia, and Ciorănescu explains the Russian sense “sudden death” by the same custom.^[3][2] Old Transylvanian Romanian also borrowed chișcrăciun “New Year's Day” from Hungarian kiskarácsony.^[3]

Timeline

• 1211 – the personal name Crachun, the first record.^[3][8]
• 1351 – the personal name Karachun.^[8]
• c. 1650-1700 – “Christmas” and “December” in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary.^[5][8]
• before 1692 – chișcrăciun “New Year's Day”.^[3]
• 1885 – crăciuniță, as a personal name.^[3]
• 1893-1896 – Crăciuneasă and Crăciunoaie “the wife of Moș Crăciun”.^[3]
• 1931 – the verb crăciuni in Ciaușanu's glossary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Christmas: the Christian feast of the Nativity of Jesus, on 25 December: De Crăciun ne strângem toți acasă.^[4][5]
2. Moș Crăciun: Father Christmas, the old man with a white beard and a red coat who brings children presents.^[4][5]
3. pom de Crăciun: a Christmas tree.^[5][8]
4. (popular) Crăciunul mic: New Year's Day.^[5][8]
5. The icon of the Nativity that priests carry to the houses of the faithful.^[5][2]
6. (regional) A loaf baked at Christmas and kept until the first ploughing in spring.^[5][10]
7. (obsolete) December.^[8][3]

Word family

• chișcrăciun
• crăciuni
• crăciuniță

Related words

• ajun
• Aromanian Crãciun
• Hungarian karácsony

Usage notes

Crăciun is also a personal name and a surname, recorded from the 13th century.^[3][8][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. crăciun
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. crăciun
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 246
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 538
6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. crăciun
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 361
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. crăciun
9. ^ a b c Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. crăciun
10. ^ a b c 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. crăciun
11. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 726
12. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 371
13. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 80