auș

Forms

auș m (plural auși)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian *au + -uș, a diminutive of a lost Romanian word that was the regular outcome of Latin avus (“grandfather”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os (“grandfather”).^[1] Wiktionary notes that the Appendix Probi already censures a shortened Latin form of the word.^[1]

The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian aush, the usual Aromanian word for an old man.^[3][5][6] REW lists dialectal continuations of the Latin word in northern Italy, in Ticino and Trentino.^[7][5] Pușcariu explained the suffix as a contamination with neaoș;^[4] Ciorănescu finds this hard to accept, since the accents differ, and he rejects as extravagant Pascu's derivation from neauă “snow”, “white as snow”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the personal name Aușul in a Slavonic–Romanian document of 1555.^[2][4] As a common noun it comes into the dictionaries through Hasdeu's Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae, who heard it in Olt county in the sense “old man”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense “grandfather” survives in MDA2's list beside “old man”, “uncle” and “ancestor”.^[8] Laurian and Massim gave the form aiuș for Oltenia with the senses “old man” and “father's father”;^[9] Hasdeu heard auș there only as “old man”.^[9] Ciorănescu calls the word rare and says it was once recorded in Oltenia but now lives only in dictionaries.^[3] The name of the goldcrest, aușel, is usually taken as a diminutive of it, though Țicăloiu and Scriban derived it from Vulgar Latin *aucellus (“little bird”).^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1555 – the personal name Aușul in a Slavonic–Romanian document, the first record.^[2][4]
• 1871 – Laurian and Massim's glossary gives auș and aiuș.^[9]
• 1883 – aușel “goldcrest” in Marian's ornithology.^[2]
• 1886–1898 – auș “old man” from Olt county in Hasdeu's dictionary.^[8][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, obsolete) An old man, moș.^[8][10][1]
2. (regional, obsolete) A grandfather.^[8][3]
3. (regional, obsolete) An uncle.^[8]
4. (regional, obsolete) An ancestor.^[8]

Word family

• aușel

Related words

• neaoș
• Aromanian aush
• Latin avus

Usage notes

The word is also the base of personal names such as Aușan and Aușacă.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. auș
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. auș
4. ^ 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. aúș
5. ^ 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. auș
6. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 161
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 839
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, 130
9. ^ a b c d e Hasdeu, B. P. (1886–1898), Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae: dicționarul limbei istorice și poporane a românilor, 4 vols. (A–Bărbat), București: Socec, p. s.v. auș
10. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. auș
11. ^ Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. auș