amiază

Forms

amiază f (plural amiezi)^[1] Old texts have amiadzădzi, and Dosoftei also amiadzădz.^[2] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has namiază at Jeremiah 15:9, „fiind zioa spre namiază” “while it was yet day, towards noon”.^[2][3] Regional forms include amiaz, amiez, namiaz and nămiez in Muntenia, and amiazi.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is from Romanian amiazăzi according to DEX and the DLRM, the older form with the noun zi “day” at the end, which continues Latin ad mediam diem (“at midday”).^[4][5][1] Wiktionary gives the same explanation and compares Italian mezzodì, French midi, Catalan migdia, Spanish mediodía and Portuguese meio-dia.^[1]

Ciorănescu derives it instead from Latin medīdiē (“at midday”), the form from which Classical merīdiēs arose; he compares Italian meriggio and a Transylvanian ⟨mereze⟩.^[6][7] MDA2 gives the classical form and compares Albanian mjezdite.^[8] Wiktionary records this as an alternative.^[1] The classical noun is a nominative made from that locative, with the dissimilation of /d/ to /r/.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the word to the 16th century, in the Codicele Voronețean, where Acts 22:6 has întru amiadzădzi “at midday”.^[2] MDA2's first record is the Psaltirea Scheiană, with the adverb in „Seara și demăreața și amiadzădzi de dzi vestescu” “evening and morning and at noon I will declare”.^[8][10]

Semantic evolution

The word names the moment when the sun stands highest, about twelve o'clock, and the time around it.^[4][8] Many adverbial phrases are built on it: la amiază “at noon”, pe la amiază “towards noon”, după amiază “in the afternoon”, the last also a noun, după-amiază “afternoon”.^[2][8] Ziua în amiaza mare means “in broad daylight”.^[4][2]

From the time of day it came to mean the place of the sun at noon, the zenith, and in some regions the midday meal.^[4][8] The old language also used it for the south, the sense the compound miazăzi keeps.^[4][1] In Moldavia soarele mi-a trecut de amiază “the sun has passed noon for me” means that one's best years are over.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1563–1583 – întru amiadzădzi in the Codicele Voronețean (Acts 22:6).^[2]
• 1570 – in Coresi's Psalter (Psalm 36:6).^[11]
• c. 1573–1578 – amiadzădzi in the Psaltirea Scheiană, MDA2's first record.^[8][10]
• 1688 – namiază in the Bucharest Bible.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. noon, midday: the moment the sun is highest in the sky, about twelve o'clock: de amiază “at lunchtime”.^[4][1]
2. The zenith.^[4][8]
3. (regional) The main meal, eaten about midday.^[4]
4. (obsolete) The south.^[4][1]

Word family

• după-amiază

Related words

• miazăzi
• miază
• zi

Usage notes

The plural is amiezi and the genitive amiezii.^[4][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. amiază
3. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Jer 15:9
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 36
5. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 26
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. amiază
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5531
8. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 54
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. meriggio
10. ^ a b 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. amiazăzi
11. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 36:6
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. amiază