Etymology and origin of the Romanian word abate
abate1 abbot
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- c. 1800 Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada
- Borrowed from
- Italian abate
- Ultimate origin
- Aramaic אבא
Etymology tree of abate1
From the same root · abate1
Pronunciation
- /aˈbate/[1]
Forms
abate m (plural abați)[1]
Etymology
The word for the abbot is borrowed from Italian abate.[2][3][4][5] DLRM and MDA2 also name borrowed from Latin abbās, abbātis, while the DA has it borrowed from French abbé: DELR records all three views.[3][6] The Latin word comes from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbâs), from Aramaic אבא (’abbā, “father”).[3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin's first record is in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada, about 1800, as the title of a priest from Italy or France.[5][6] DELR's first record is in Beldiman's translation Alexii, of 1806, where it already has the older variant abát.[3]
Semantic evolution
The word names the head of a Catholic abbey and an honorary title of Catholic priests.[4][3] Its family came in with it: abație “abbey” from 1780, from Italian abbazia, and abatesă “abbess” from 1822.[3][2]
Timeline
- 1780 – abație “abbey”.[3]
- c. 1800 – abate in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada.[5][6]
- 1806 – abate in Beldiman's Alexii.[3]
- 1822 – abatisă “abbess”.[3]
- 1859 – abațial “of an abbey”.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- abbot: the head of a Catholic abbey.[4][6][1]
- An honorary title given to some Catholic priests, or a priest who bears it.[4][2]
Word family
- abație
- abatesă
- abațial
abate2 turn aside, deviate
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- 1560–1561 Coresi's Pravila
- Inherited from
- Latin abbatto
- Ultimate origin
- Latin battuō
Etymology tree of abate2
From the same root · abate2
Pronunciation
- /aˈbate/[1]
Forms
abate (third-person singular present abate, past participle abătut, third-person subjunctive abată), 3rd conjugation[1]
Etymology
The word for turning aside is inherited from Late Latin abbattō (“to knock down”), recorded in the 6th century spelled with one ⟨b⟩, from battuō (“to beat”).[3][6][4][1] It has the cognates Aromanian abat and Istro-Romanian abotu.[2][7]
The Romanian senses moved far from beating, through a sense “to push aside violently”.[3] The DA, noting the same shift in străbate and răzbate, suggested the influence of Old Church Slavonic бити (biti, “to beat”), whose compounds also meant “to push”.[3] Ciorănescu reports that the DA took the sense “knock down” for a Gallicism and the others for a loan from the Slavonic verb, and finds both views doubtful.[2] He thinks the word more likely a formation from Romanian bate, with the Latin verb a late word known only from the Salic Law.[2][3] The sense “to knock down” and the figurative “to depress” are recent, after French abattre.[3][4][6] Romanian lent the word to Serbo-Croatian as abati (“to deviate”).[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELR's first record is Coresi's Pravila of 1560–1561, and Tiktin's is Coresi's Cazania of 1564.[3][5] The old texts use it for turning something aside: in the Bible of 1688 David „l-abătu pre el la casa lui Avedar Heteul” “turned it aside to the house of Avedar the Hittite”.[5]
Semantic evolution
From turning a cart, a flock or a river from its way, the verb came to mean straying from a rule or a line of conduct.[5][4] Reflexively it means stopping somewhere in passing, and it is used of storms and misfortunes that strike suddenly.[4][6] With a dative it means that an idea or a whim crosses someone's mind.[2][4]
The participle abătut “dejected” and the noun abatere “deviation, breach” are its main derivatives.[2] Older ones are neabătut “unswerving”, from 1682, and abătătoare “inn”, from 1825, probably a calque of Latin deversorium.[3]
Timeline
- 1560-1561 – the first record, in Coresi's Pravila.[3]
- 1564 – in Coresi's Cazania.[5]
- 1682 – neabătut “unswerving” in Dosoftei's lives of the saints.[3]
- 1688 – “to turn aside” in the Bucharest Bible.[5]
- 1691-1697 – abătător in Teodor Corbea's dictionary.[3]
- 1875 – “to knock down” in Alecsandri, after French abattre.[6]
Meanings
Verb
- To deviate, turn aside or stray from a way, and figuratively from a rule or line of conduct.[4][6][1]
- (reflexive or transitive) to stop, or make someone stop, somewhere in passing.[4][6]
- (reflexive, of storms and misfortunes) to strike suddenly and violently.[4]
- (reflexive and intransitive, with a dative) to cross one's mind, to take a whim.[4][2]
- (transitive) to depress, dishearten: Eșecul l-a abătut. “The failure cast him down.”[4]
- (transitive) to knock down.[4][1]
Word family
- abatere
- abătut
- neabătut
- abătător
Related words
- bate
- Aromanian abat
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. abate
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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. abate
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1
- ^ 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. abate
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1
- ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 50
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Abate.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/abate. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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