baterie

Forms

baterie f (plural baterii)^[1] Șincai's chronicle has the romanized bătărie: „Luând bătăria, o au aruncat în șanțul cetății” “taking the battery, they threw it into the moat of the fortress”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French batterie, with German Batterie and Italian batteria as further models.^{[4][5][3][6][7][1]} The old variant batarie came from Russian батарея (batareja) and Modern Greek μπαταρία (mpataría).^[4]

The French word first meant “beating; bombardment”, then a battery of guns, and later a set of devices.^[4] It is formed on battre (“to beat”), from Latin battuō.^[4][1] The electrical sense began with English battery, which Benjamin Franklin used in 1748 for a set of Leyden jars likened to a battery of guns;^[7] Romanian took it through French.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1782, as batărie, in the military sense.^[4][6] In the old texts it also names the part of a fortification where the guns were placed.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The military senses came first: a unit of four, six or eight guns with their men, and the earthworks that protect them.^[5][2] With the 19th century came the electric battery, first a set of Leyden jars, then of voltaic cells.^[2][7] Later technical senses are a group of identical devices, a set of percussion instruments, a mixer tap for a sink or a shower, and a battery of cages for raising poultry or rabbits.^[4][5]

Bucharest tavern speech used baterie for a bottle of wine and one of soda water set in an ice bucket.^[6][7][5] Ciorănescu calls this a joke that likens the parts of a spritzer to an electric battery.^[8] In Moldovan usage it is also a flashlight, and in slang the buttocks.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 1782 – batărie, the first record.^[4][6]
• 1840 – contrabaterie “counter-battery fire”, from French.^[4]
• 1853 – bătărie in the printed edition of Șincai's chronicle.^[3]
• 1971 – baterist “percussionist”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) A battery: an artillery unit of four, six or eight guns with their traction, equipment and crews.^[5][3][1]
2. A group of identical devices or parts that work together;^[11] baterie electrică an electric battery, baterie solară a solar battery.^[5][3]
3. The percussion section of an orchestra or band.^[5][4]
4. A mixer tap fitted to a sink or a shower.^[4]
5. An ice bucket holding bottles; by extension a litre of wine with a bottle of soda water.^[5][8]

Word family

• baterist

Related words

• bate
• bătălie
• batalion

Usage notes

A-și încărca bateriile “to recharge one's batteries” is a recent phrase for getting one's strength back.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. baterie
3. ^ 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, 170
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. baterie
5. ^ 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. 1, 92
6. ^ 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. baterie
7. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 155
8. ^ a b 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. baterie
9. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. s.v. baterie
10. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. baterie
11. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. bateríe