acoperiș

Forms

acoperiș n (plural acoperișuri)^[1] The oldest record has the form without a-, coperiș (1581); a regional variant coporâș is also recorded.^[2] DLRLC labels coperiș regional, and Scriban gives it as a variant.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian acoperi + -iș, from the verb “to cover”.^[5][6][7][1] DELR lists it in the family of acoperi, with Aromanian cupirișu as the corresponding word.^[2] Hasdeu set it beside învăliș and astrucuș, other words for a roof made with the same suffix.^[8]

The verb acoperi is inherited from Latin cooperiō (“to cover over”), formed from con- and operiō (“to close, cover”);^[2] DELR gives two views of its initial ⟨a-⟩: the Latin prefix ad- (a form Vulgar Latin *accooperiō) or a vowel added in Romanian to coperi.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is coperiș in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581; the form acoperiș follows in the Pravila of Govora (1640), and Tiktin's first record is a Ceaslov of the same year.^[2][7] DELR defines its early meaning as the upper part of a building that covers it and protects it from the weather, and also as a lid.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant any covering: Mardarie's lexicon of 1649 glosses with it Old Church Slavonic покровъ (pokrovŭ, “covering, veil”).^[9] The Lexicon de la Buda (1825) still gives a general sense “covering, lid” beside “roof of a house”, and Bobb's dictionary names phrases such as acoperișul țâțelor “breast covering” and acoperișul capului muieresc “woman's head covering”, which MDA2 marks as obsolete.^[10][8][6] Hasdeu already found the sense “roof of a building” the most widespread, and it is the only one of modern Romanian.^[8][5] In Moldova the word can still mean the lid of a pot.^[11] In slang it means a hat or cap and, figuratively, an influential protector.^[12]

Timeline

• 1581 – coperiș in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură, the first record.^[2]
• 1640 – acoperiș in the Pravila of Govora and in a Ceaslov.^[2][7]
• 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[9]
• 1688 – acoperișurile in the Bucharest Bible.^[13]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda: “covering” and “roof of a house”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The roof: the upper part of a building, which covers it and protects it from the weather.^[5][6][1]
2. (obsolete) A lid, cover.^[6]
3. (slang) A hat or cap; figuratively, an influential protector.^[12]

Related words

• acoperi
• acoperământ
• Aromanian cupirișu

Usage notes

The usual plural is acoperișuri; old texts also have acoperișe.^[6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. acoperi
3. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 15
4. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 66
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 8
6. ^ 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, 10
7. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. acoperiș
8. ^ 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. acoperiș
9. ^ 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. acoperiș
10. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 3
11. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 17
12. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. acoperiș
13. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 2 Macc 14:15