amenințare

Forms

amenințare f (plural amenințări)^[1] Old texts have the variants amerințare, amelițare and melițare: Dosoftei writes „Isus numai cu amelițaria potolește holbura” “Jesus calms the storm with his command alone”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian amenința + -re, the long infinitive of the verb used as a noun of action.^[2][3][4][1] The verb amenința is generally traced to Vulgar Latin *ammināciō (“to threaten”), from mināciae (“threats”), with Romance cognates such as Spanish amenazar, Portuguese ameaçar and Italian minacciare.^[5][6] DELR calls this etymology uncertain, because the old Romanian senses centre on a commanding gesture rather than on a threat.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is a fragment of Coresi's Molitvenic from 1564.^[3] There the word means the command of God: „Dumnezeiasca amerințarea lui toate-i slujesc” “all things serve his divine command”.^[2] Tiktin's first record is Coresi's Omiliar of 1581.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the noun meant a sign made with the hand, especially one showing the power of God, and so the divine will.^[2][4] A Pravila of 1659 speaks of a council gathered „după amenințarea dumnezeiască” “by the divine will”, and a 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian dictionary translates a Slavonic word for a nod as amerințare cu mâna “a sign with the hand”.^[2] DELR notes that the modern sense of the verb, to show the intention of doing harm, is rare before the end of the 17th century.^[5]

By the 19th century the noun meant a threat: Buda's lexicon of 1825 glosses it with Latin minātiō, Hungarian fenyegetés and German Drohung.^[7] The DA records a threatening letter and the extended sense “danger, risk”, and modern law uses it for the offence of threatening someone.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1564 – amerințare “divine command” in a fragment of Coresi's Molitvenic, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1581 – in Coresi's Omiliar.^[4]
• 1659 – amenințarea dumnezeiască “the divine will” in a Pravila.^[2]
• 1825 – amenintiare “threat” in the Buda lexicon.^[7]
• 1870 – Costinescu defines it as the act of threatening or frightening someone.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A threat: words or gestures showing the intention of doing someone harm; the act of threatening.^[8][10]
2. A danger, a risk.^[8][3]
3. (law) The offence of alarming a person by showing the intention to commit a crime or harmful act against them or a close relative.^[8]
4. (obsolete) A commanding gesture of the hand, especially of God; hence will, command.^[3][2]

Related words

• amenința
• amenințător

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. amenințare
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 52
4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. amenințare
5. ^ a b c 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. amenința
6. ^ 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. amenința
7. ^ 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. 19
8. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 35
9. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 37
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 75