arsură

Forms

arsură f (plural arsuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ārsūra (“burning”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The DA cites the Latin word from the Herbarius of Apuleius.^[6] It is formed on ārsus, the past participle of ārdeō (“to burn”).^[1] Tiktin and Wiktionary also see in it Romanian ars with the suffix -ură.^[7][1]

Its Romance cognates include Italian arsura, Occitan arsura, Catalan arsura and Old French arsure.^[3][8] It competes in part with arșiță “scorching heat”, from Vulgar Latin *arsīcia.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are place names: Arsura in 1451 and Arsuri in 1490.^[2][7] As a common noun it appears in the 17th century;^[9] Dosoftei's verse Psalter of 1673 uses it for fire: „Tinerii lor au perit de-arsură” “their young men perished by fire”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The old senses were close to the verb arde: burning, fire, and the scorching heat of the day, as in the Bucharest Bible of 1688, which leaves bones „la arsura zilei și la înghețul nopții” “to the heat of the day and the frost of the night”.^[7][9] The same Bible has arsură pentru arsură “burning for burning” in the law of retaliation.^[7][6]

From the act of burning the word came to mean the wound it leaves and a burning sensation, from thirst, fever or heartburn.^[6][5] A patch of burnt forest is also an arsură.^[5][10] Modern technical language added the scale of oxide on hot-worked metal and a bacterial necrosis of plant tissue.^[5]

Timeline

• 1451 – the place name Arsura, the first record.^[2][7]
• 1490 – the place name Arsuri.^[7]
• 1660 – a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon glosses a Slavonic word with arsură.^[11]
• 1673 – arsură “fire” in Dosoftei's verse Psalter.^[9]
• 1688 – arsură pentru arsură “burning for burning” in the Bucharest Bible.^[7][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. burning; a painful, stinging sensation.^[5][4]
2. A burn: a wound caused by fire, heat or a chemical; a burning feeling caused by illness or thirst; the part of an object damaged by fire or a corrosive.^[5][4][1]
3. A place where a forest has burned.^[5][1]
4. (technical) A layer of oxide formed on metal during hot rolling, forging or heat treatment.^[5]
5. (botany) necrosis of plant tissue caused by bacteria.^[5]
6. (dated) Scorching heat.^[4][13]

Related words

• arde
• arșiță
• Latin arsura

Usage notes

Arsuri la stomac is “heartburn”.^[14][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. arde
3. ^ 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. arsură
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 103
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 64
6. ^ a b c d 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. arsură
7. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. arsură
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 682
9. ^ 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. arsură
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 125
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. arsură
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 21:25
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. arsură
14. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. arsură