Etymology and origin of the Romanian word achiu
achiu1 celery
Etymology tree of achiu1
Pronunciation
- [aˈkʲu], [aˈkiw][1]
Forms
achiu m (plural achii)[1]
Etymology
The word for celery is probably a learned coinage: DELR takes it as the creation of the writer Odobescu, on the model from Latin apium (“celery, parsley”).[2] The DA also explains it from the Latin word, and the DEX only compares it.[3][4] Tiktin finds the Latin source likely but doubts that the word was inherited.[5]
Wiktionary treats it instead as an inherited word, through an unattested form ⟨*apiu⟩, with the change of /pʲ/ to /kʲ/ that some dialects show in chiatră for piatră and schin for spin.[1] MDA2 also gives the Latin word as the etymon.[6] The Latin plant name is derived from apis (“bee”).[7][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELR dates the first record to 1861, in Odobescu.[2] The DA quotes Odobescu's translation of Vergil's sixth Eclogue, where the singer Linus has his hair wreathed with flowers „și cu achiu amar” “and with bitter celery”, for the Latin apio … amaro.[3]
Semantic evolution
The word stayed a bookish name for celery and wild celery (Apium graveolens); Tiktin also records the compound foiachiu.[5] The DEX marks it as obsolete; the ordinary word is țelină.[4]
Timeline
- 1861 – achiu “celery” in Odobescu, the first record.[2]
- 1868 – listed in Barcianu's dictionary as wild celery.[5]
Meanings
Noun
achiu2 billiards
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1789 a print of Mihail Strilbițchi, cited by Tiktin
- Borrowed from
- French acquit
- Ultimate origin
- French acquitter
Pronunciation
- [aˈkiw][1]
Forms
achiu n (plural achiuri)[4]
Etymology
The word for the billiards term is borrowed from French acquit (“first stroke at billiards”), a special use of the French word for the discharge of a debt, derived from acquitter (“to discharge, pay off”).[2][4][8][5]
The sense “cue” is explained from Russian кий (kij, “billiard cue”) by DELR, the DA and MDA2.[2][3][6] The Russian word goes back to *kyjĭ (“stick, cudgel”).[2][9] Hasdeu took the word from French, but noted the Russian name of the cue and that the Moldavians learned billiards during the Russian occupations.[10] Șăineanu derived the cue sense from Russian, and the Russian word from French queue.[11]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin dates the word to 1789, from a print of Mihail Strilbițchi discussed in an article on Russian influence in his books.[5] In 1867 a poem by Ianov in Convorbiri literare has „Sunt tânăr de moda nouă, Cred în cărți și în achiu” “I am a young man of the new fashion, I believe in cards and in billiards”.[10][5] DELR's first record is from Stamati, 1868.[2]
Semantic evolution
The DA and MDA2 give the two senses regions: “cue” in Moldavia, and the phrase a da achiu “to play the opening stroke that decides who begins” in Muntenia.[3][6] Hasdeu also heard it chiefly in Moldavia.[10] The DEX marks both senses as obsolete; the usual word for the cue is tac.[4]
Timeline
- 1789 – the first record, in a print of Strilbițchi.[5]
- 1867 – Cred în cărți și în achiu in Ianov's poem in Convorbiri literare.[10]
- 1868 – in Stamati.[2]
Meanings
Noun
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h 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. achiu
- ^ a b c d 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. achiu
- ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 7
- ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. achiu
- ^ 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, 8
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. apium
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. achiu
- ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 356
- ^ a b c d Hasdeu, B. P. (1886–1898), Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae: dicționarul limbei istorice și poporane a românilor, 4 vols. (A–Bărbat), București: Socec, p. s.v. achiu
- ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 5
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Achiu.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/achiu. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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