băț

Forms

băț n (plural bețe)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown: DEX and MDA2 leave it unexplained, Wiktionary calls it unknown, and DELR calls it uncertain and lists the proposals made so far.^[2][3][1][4]

Ciorănescu thinks it probably comes from Old Church Slavonic бичь (bičĭ, “whip, scourge”), which would make it a doublet of bici “whip”.^[5] He admits that the sounds are not clear, but finds the difficulties surmountable, and argues from the identical meanings and the absence of both words in the other Romanian dialects.^[5] Wiktionary counts this among the most likely views and traces the Slavonic word to Proto-Slavic *bičь.^[1]

Miklosich, followed by Cihac, connected it with Old Church Slavonic бътъ (bŭtŭ, “sceptre”), the source of bâtă “club” and of Hungarian bot (“stick”).^[5] Ciorănescu objects that this leaves the change of /t/ to /ț/ unexplained.^[5] DELR counts it as possible, with Pușcariu's explanation of /ț/ by a Slavic diminutive suffix, but notes that the plural ⟨bețe⟩ points to an original /e/ that the Slavonic vowel cannot explain.^[4] The DA left the word unexplained, but compared the same club word and Hungarian pálca (“stick”), pronounced ⟨páca⟩.^[6]

Other scholars started from Latin.^[5] Pascu proposed Vulgar Latin *vittum, from vitta (“band, fillet”), which leaves the final consonant unexplained;^[5][4] Scriban proposed vitium (“fault, vice”), which Ciorănescu rejects on grounds of meaning;^[5][4] Lausberg proposed vectis (“lever, bar”), comparing a Calabrian ⟨bett⟩ “stick”, but its sounds raise great difficulties.^[5][4] P. Boerescu (2005, 2007) derived it from a Latin ⟨*bitium⟩, from vīteus, from vītis (“vine; centurion's staff”), which DELR finds problematic because the other descendants of that word did not shorten the vowel.^[4] Mihăescu and Rohr counted it, as a possibility, among the substrate words, comparing Albanian bisk (“shoot, twig”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and DELR date the first record to 1620, in Mihail Moxa's text, with the sense “long thin piece of wood, stick”.^[7][4] In Nicolae Costin's chronicle the townspeople go about with sticks: „Târgoveții îmblă cu bețe”.^[6] MDA2 dates this record to 1601, a year taken from the title of the chronicle.^[3] A Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of about 1660 uses the word to gloss a Slavonic word for a splinter of wood.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is a long thin piece of wood cut from a straight branch and used as a walking stick or for beating;^[6][3] Neculce tells of letters hidden in a hollowed-out stick sent to the prince.^[6][3] From it come a blow with a stick, the rod of an umbrella and the rods of the loom and of other tools, such as the bar of the batten or the stick that tightens a hand saw.^[6][3][2] Used as an adverb, it means stiff and straight, “stiff as a stick”, as in Eminescu and Ghica.^[7][6]

Regional senses include a matchstick in Maramureș, short for băț de chibrit, and the stroke that keeps the score in card games.^[6] Wiktionary records a slang sense, a hundred lei.^[1] Many phrases use the word: a pune cuiva bețe în roate “to put spokes in someone's wheels”, a rămâne cu traista-n băț “to be left with one's bag on a stick, to become poor”.^[2][3][7]

Timeline

• 1620 – the first record, in Moxa.^[7][4]
• c. 1660 – the form bățul in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[8]
• 1691–1697 – the diminutive bețișor in Teodor Corbea's dictionary.^[4]
• c. 1820 – bățos “stiff, rigid” in Leon Asachi.^[4]
• after 1824 – the diminutive bețigaș in Zilot Românul.^[4]
• 1873 – bățoșie “stiffness, haughtiness”.^[4]
• 1898 – the diminutive bățuleț in Damé's technical vocabulary.^[4]
• 1913 – îmbățoșa “to stiffen”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long thin piece of wood; a stick, a rod: Bunicul se sprijinea într-un băț.^[2][3][1]
2. (adverbial) Straight and stiff: A rămas băț în ușă.^[2][3]
3. (figurative) A blow given with a stick.^[2][3]
4. A rod-shaped part of a tool or machine: the shaft of an umbrella, the rods of a loom, the stick that tightens a hand saw.^[2][3]
5. (slang) A hundred lei.^[1]

Word family

• bățos
• bățoșie
• bățuleț
• bețigaș
• bețișor
• îmbățoșa

Related words

• bici
• bâtă

Usage notes

The plural is bețe; an old plural bățuri is very rare.^[3][6] Common phrases are a pune (cuiva) bețe în roate “to thwart someone's plans”, a-și lua traista-n băț “to set off on the road” and a rămâne cu traista-n băț “to become poor”.^[2][3] In Maramureș the variant bâț occurs.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 97
3. ^ 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, 188
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. băț
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. băț
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. băț
7. ^ 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. băț
8. ^ a b 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. bățul