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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word aoace

aoace1 here

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1780–1801 the form aoácea, Micu's dictionary
Inherited from
Latin hocce
Ultimate origin
Latin hōcce

Etymology

The word for “here” is inherited from Latin hōc(c)e (“hither”), as in the DA and DELR.[1][2] DELR takes its ⟨a-⟩ either from the deictic ⟨a-⟩ of compounds with eccum or from the preposition a.[1] Philippide's Latin ad + ⟨hoce⟩ cannot be of Latin date, as the ⟨-d⟩ of ⟨ad⟩ survives before vowels in adinte and adins.[1] CADE, Scriban and Rosetti start from the same preposition with *hācce and a glide between the vowels, which DELR rejects.[1] Hasdeu saw in it a rustic Latin *ecc-hocce, a doublet of the lost acoace kept only in încoace.[3] It survives in the other three branches: Aromanian aoațe, Megleno-Romanian uáți and Istro-Romanian oč.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates it to 1887, Miron Pompiliu's Bihor word list in Convorbiri literare.[1] The form aoácea “here” is older, from Micu's dictionary of 1780–1801.[1] Hasdeu quoted aoacea “here” from the Moți.[3]

Semantic evolution

The DA found it only among the Moți and in Bihor, with forms such as aoașia and oaci.[2] Hasdeu wrote that in Aromanian the word is widespread and has pushed out aici, while north of the Danube the latter has nearly ousted it.[3]

Timeline

  • 1780-1801 – aoácea in Micu's dictionary.[1]
  • 1887 – aoace in Miron Pompiliu's Bihor word list.[1]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (regional, Crișana) Here.[1][2][4]

aoace2 there

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1887 Miron Pompiliu, Bihor word list
Inherited from
Latin *illacce
Ultimate origin
Latin illāc

Etymology

The word for “there” is, for the DA, Ciorănescu and the REW, inherited from Vulgar Latin *illāc(c)e, from illāc (“that way, there”), a form kept only in Romanian.[2][5][6][7] The DA explains the loss of the /l/ by a velar pronunciation of the ⟨-ll-⟩ of ille in popular Latin.[2] DELR finds this difficult, as the /l/ of that Latin adverb survives in la and lăuntru, and thinks the word is probably the same as aoace1 “here”, with the sense of distance arising in contrast with aici, as Philippide had suggested in 1907.[6] Ciorănescu also cites Philippide's and Pascu's *ad hocce, and compares Aromanian auați.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Miron Pompiliu's Bihor word list of 1887, which glosses aoace as “there”.[6][2] Hasdeu thought Pompiliu had mistaken the sense, but a Bihor glossary in the Revista critică literară (vol. 4) also has aoaci “there”.[6][3][2]

Timeline

  • 1887 – Miron Pompiliu's Bihor word list, the first record.[6][2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (regional, Bihor, rare) There, over there.[6][5][4][8]

Usage notes

CADE and Scriban list aoace under auace.[9][10] MDA2 and the DA give the variant aoaci for both words.[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. acoace
  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. aoace
  3. ^ 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. aoace
  4. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 77
  5. ^ a b c 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. aoace
  6. ^ a b c d e f 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. aoace²
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4265
  8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. aoace
  10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 109

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Aoace.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/aoace. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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