apătos

Forms

apătos m or n (feminine singular apătoasă, masculine plural apătoși, feminine/neuter plural apătoase)^[1]

Etymology

DELR gives it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *aquātōsus, a blend of aquōsus (“watery”) and aquātus (“watered, watery”), following the DA and Tiktin.^[2] Pușcariu reconstructed the same form, comparing aquātilis.^[3] Tiktin derived the form from aqua (“water”), explaining the ⟨at⟩ by aquāticus and the adjective in ⟨-ātilis⟩.^[2] Wiktionary compares Friulian agadôs.^[1]

Other sources make it a Romanian word.^[2] Candrea and Densusianu and the CADE derive it from apătat (“watered”).^[2] DEX 2009 gives the Latin form or a formation on apă after adjectives such as sănătos and secetos.^[4] Ciorănescu also thinks it was formed in Romanian, the suffix -os being confused with the ending ⟨-tos⟩ of vârtos, muntos and the like, and finds the Latin form no clearer.^[5] MDA2 compares apos.^[6]

The word exists south of the Danube: Aromanian apãtos, which Papahagi derives from the noun for “water” or perhaps from the Latin form.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, with the sense “rich in water”.^[2] The form there is apătoase (Psalm 73:16).^[8] Dosoftei's verse psalter of 1673 has „Tu ai dat fântână apătoasă În pustie din piatră vârtoasă” “you gave a spring full of water in the desert, out of hard rock”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is “full of water, watery”.^[4][10] Dosoftei's liturgy of 1684 speaks of „apătoș nuări” “clouds full of water”.^[9] A Banat glossary of about 1670 renders it with Latin aquosus.^[9] Of soil it means “soaked”, and of wine “weak, thin”, a use Hasdeu records in Transylvania.^[6][9] Among the grape varieties of Prahova, negru apătos “watery black” was set against negru vârtos “firm black”.^[9][6] Tiktin marks the word as used in Muntenia and Transylvania.^[10]

Timeline

• early 16th century – apătoase in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[2][8]
• early 16th century – the verb apătoșa “to fill with water”, in the same psalter.^[2]
• 1645 – in a translation of Herodotus.^[10]
• c. 1660 – in the Slavonic–Romanian lexicon Lex.St.^[11]
• c. 1670 – glossed by Latin aquosus in a Banat dictionary.^[9]
• 1673 – fântână apătoasă in Dosoftei's verse psalter.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. watery, containing a lot of water, apos.^[4][6][1]
2. (of soil, earth) waterlogged, soaked with water.^[6][4]
3. (of wine) Weak, thin.^[6][9]
4. (of the colour of grapes) Greyish black, as opposed to negru vârtos.^[6]

Word family

• apătoșa

Related words

• apă
• apos
• Aromanian apãtos

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. apă
3. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 9
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 53
5. ^ 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. apă
6. ^ 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, 79
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 117
8. ^ a b 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 73:16
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Hasdeu, B. P. (1886–1898), Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae: dicționarul limbei istorice și poporane a românilor, 4 vols. (A–Bărbat), București: Socec, p. s.v. apătos
10. ^ 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. apătos
11. ^ 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. apătos