apropia

Forms

apropia (present apropii, third-person singular apropie, past participle apropiat), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin appropiō (“to come near”), a verb formed on Latin prope (“near”), which came to be used in the sense of classical appropinquō.^[2][3][4][1] It survives in Aromanian aprochiu and Megleno-Romanian prochiu.^[3][2][5][1] The Romance cognates are Sardinian approbiare, Old Occitan apropchar, French approcher and Catalan apropar;^[2][6] Italian approcciare is from French.^[2][6] DER cites Pușcariu's EWRS, Candrea and Densusianu, the REW and the DA for the etymology.^[2] The adverb aproape “near” is from Latin ad (“to”) and the same adverb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is in the Hurmuzaki psalter of the early 16th century, DELR's first record, for instance in Psalm 90:7.^[3][7] MDA2 dates it from the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583), and Tiktin from the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[4][8] MDA2 records old variants apropria and the present apropiu.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The verb is both transitive, “to bring near”, and reflexive, “to come near”; of time, se apropie de ziuă “day is breaking”.^[8][9] Figurative senses grew from closeness: to resemble, to make friends with, and in the old language to be loyal to someone.^[3][4] Old phrases include a se apropia cu târgul “to come close to an agreement” and se apropie funia de par “the rope nears the stake”, said when the end is near;^[8][4] Tiktin explains it from threshing with horses tied to a stake in the middle of the threshing floor.^[8][4]

The participle apropiat “near; close (of friends)” is recorded from 1570 and apropietor from the same year, both in Coresi's Psalter; reapropia dates from 1848.^[3]

Timeline

• early 16th century – apropia, apropie in the Hurmuzaki psalter.^[3][7]
• c. 1563–1583 – in the Codicele Voronețean, MDA2's first record.^[4]
• 1570 – apropiat and apropietor in Coresi's Psalter.^[3]
• first half of the 17th century – neapropiat “inaccessible” in Neagoe's Teachings.^[3]
• 1848 – reapropia.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive) to approach, to come closer to someone or something: Ne apropiem de oraș.^[9][4][1]
2. (transitive) to bring or place something nearer.^[9][4][1]
3. (reflexive) to draw near in time: Se apropie iarna.; to be close to a certain age.^[9][4]
4. (reflexive, figurative) to resemble, to have features in common.^[9]
5. (transitive and reflexive, figurative) to win someone's friendship, to become close.^[9][4]

Word family

• apropiere
• apropiat
• apropietor
• neapropiat
• reapropia

Related words

• aproape
• aproapele
• Aromanian aprochiu

Usage notes

Nu te poți apropia de el means “there is no talking to him”, and nu te poți apropia de ceva “it is too expensive to buy”.^[9][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. apropia
3. ^ 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. aproape
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 84
5. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 236
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 557
7. ^ 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 90:7
8. ^ 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. apropia
9. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 56