așterne

Forms

așterne (third-person singular present așterne, past participle așternut, third-person subjunctive aștearnă), 3rd conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin asternō (“to stretch out on, to lie prone”), formed on ad- and sternō (“to spread, to strew”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} It survives in all four branches: Aromanian așternu, Megleno-Romanian ștern and Istro-Romanian așterne.^[3][2][6][7] The other Romance languages have only the simple verb, as Italian sternere, and it lives on in north Italian dialects.^[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Slavonic–Romanian Gospel of 1551–1553, at Matthew 21:8, where the crowd spreads its garments on the road; the sense is “to spread out on the ground”.^[3][9] The noun așternut is recorded earlier, in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From spreading something on a surface the verb came to mean making the bed, setting the table and putting down straw for animals, and, reflexively, lying down.^[3][4] To lay someone on the ground led to “to knock down” and even “to kill”, and the old phrase a așterne la scară was to stretch someone out to be beaten.^[10][4] A așterne pe hârtie is to write down, and with pe portativ to compose music; in the old language one could also lay a complaint or an account before someone.^[10][2] Figuratively a se așterne is to settle down to a task, and a horse se așterne drumului when it runs flat out.^[4][10]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – the noun așternut in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[3]
• 1551–1553 – așterne “to spread on the ground” in the Slavonic–Romanian Gospel, the first record of the verb.^[3][9]
• 1649 – așternut glossing Slavonic постеля “bed” in Mardarie's lexicon.^[11]
• 1688 – așternea in the Bucharest Bible (Matthew 21:8).^[12]
• 1862 – așternătură in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[3]
• 1870 – așternător “who spreads” in Cihac.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spread a carpet, a cloth and the like over a surface.^[4][1]
2. (also reflexive, often figurative) To spread over the ground in a layer: Zăpada s-a așternut peste sat.^[4][1]
3. To make the bed; to lay the table.^[4]
4. To write, to compose: a așterne pe hârtie.^[4][10]
5. (also reflexive) To stretch out on the ground, to lie down;^[4] (figurative) to settle down to a task.^[4]
6. To knock someone to the ground.^[4][10]

Word family

• așternător
• așternătură
• așternut
• deșterne

Related words

• Aromanian așternu
• Latin sternō

Usage notes

A se așterne la drum means to set out on a long journey, and a se așterne drumului to go or run very fast.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. așterne
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. așterne
4. ^ 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. 70
5. ^ 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. așterne
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 174
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 285
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
9. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. așterne
10. ^ 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. 1, 119
11. ^ 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. așternut
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Mt 21:8