balț

Forms

balț n (plural balțuri)^[1] The plural is balțuri, regionally also balți and balțe.^[2][3] DELR records the variants zbalț and zbanț for a metal link that fixes something.^[4] The Lexicon of Buda (1825) spells it Baltiu and glosses it Latin laqueus “noose”.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin balteus (“belt, baldric”), which Varro thought an Etruscan word.^{[4][6][7][8][1]} It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian balțu, the white headscarf of old women.^[4][9] The Romance cognates include Italian balzo, Catalan bals and Spanish balzo.^[6][8] MDA2 names Italian balza beside the Latin word.^[2]

The adjective bălțat “piebald” is usually derived directly from Latin balteātus (“girded”), as Italian balzano and Old French bauçant continue *balteānus;^[7][2][5] Ciorănescu thinks it may as well be a regular derivative of bălța.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the word to Micu's dictionary of 1780–1801, in the sense of a noose or band that ties something and of a bridal veil.^[4] Tiktin's first record is Klein's dictionary of 1806, and MDA2's the Lexicon of Buda of 1825, which glosses it as a noose.^[7][2][5] The family is older: bălțar “maker or seller of balțuri” is recorded in 1648, written bilțar, and the place name Bălțați in 1425.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin belt the word kept the general sense of a band, loop or noose that ties something, and in Transylvania, Bucovina and Maramureș it named the bride's veil or the cloth tied on her head after the wedding.^[6][10][11] It also named the veil over a dead person's face and, in the plural, the strings of a sack.^[2] Scriban records it for the iron ring that holds the hub of a wheel, and a Hațeg glossary for the cord that ties the thong of a whip to its handle.^[12][13] An animal with a white or speckled neck, especially a sheep, is also called balț.^[2][6]

The bridal sense gave the verb îmbălța “to put on the veil”, said of a bride.^[6][10]

Timeline

• 1425 – the place name Bălțați, formed on the adjective bălțat.^[4]
• 1648 – bălțar, written bilțar, a maker or seller of balțuri.^[4]
• 1780–1801 – balț in Micu's dictionary, the first record of the noun.^[4]
• 1806 – in Klein's dictionary.^[7]
• 1825 – Baltiu “noose” in the Lexicon of Buda.^[5][2]
• 1849 – bălțătură “patch of another colour”.^[4]
• 1870 – the verb bălța “to paint in many colours”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) A noose or loop with which something is tied or drawn tight.^[2][3][1]
2. (regional, in the plural) The strings of a sack.^[2]
3. (regional) A bridal veil, the cloth tied on a bride's head after the wedding.^[2][11][1]
4. (regional) The shroud laid over a dead person's face.^[2][1]
5. (regional) An animal, usually a sheep, with a white or speckled neck.^[2][1]

Word family

• bălța
• bălțat
• bălțătură
• bălți
• îmbălța

Related words

• Aromanian balțu
• Latin balteus

Usage notes

MDA2 has a separate regional balț or blaț “chin”, recorded in the Small Romanian Linguistic Atlas of 1938, whose origin it calls unknown;^[2][7] Tiktin records a sense “double chin” too.^[2][7]

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 i j k l m n Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 161
3. ^ a b Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. balț
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. balț
5. ^ a b c d Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 45
6. ^ 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. balț
7. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. balț
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 919
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 191
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. balț
11. ^ a b Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. balț
12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 148
13. ^ Densusianu, Ovid (1915), Graiul din Țara Hațegului, București: Socec, p. 305