bici

Forms

bici n (plural bice)^[1] Besides the plural bice there is a rare biciuri; regional variants are zbici, sbici and sgici.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic бичь (bičĭ, “whip, scourge”).^{[4][5][2][6][1]} The Slavonic word is formed from бити (biti, “to beat”), as DELR and Ciorănescu say.^[4][5] Derksen gives it as a derivative of Proto-Slavic *biti with a suffix.^[7] Ciorănescu lists Bulgarian бич (bič), Polish bicz and Russian бич (bič) beside it.^[5][8]

The Bulgarian etymological dictionary records the borrowing into Romanian.^[8] Ciorănescu adds that the Transylvanian Saxon word for a whip comes from Romanian, while Modern Greek βίτσα (vítsa) and Albanian bisk come straight from Slavic, after G. Meyer.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is Coresi's Tetraevanghel of 1560–1561, with the sense “whip”;^[4][3] Tiktin cites Coresi's Praxiu of 1563.^[4][3] The early Bible text uses it for the lashes of punishment: the Bucharest Bible of 1688 has „bice” in the story of Rehoboam (3 Kingdoms 12:11).^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the whip the word passed to the lash it gives and, figuratively, to a scourge of war or plague: biciul lui Dumnezeu “the scourge of God” is said of Attila.^[3][2][6] Miron Costin, in the 17th century, has the Moldavian phrase a purcede în bici “to set off at full speed”: „Leșii îndată au purces în bici spre cetate” “the Poles at once set off at a gallop towards the fortress”;^[3][2] Tiktin compares Polish z bicza.^[3][2]

Romanian formed many diminutives and a verb: biciui “to whip” in 1682, bicișor in the 1690s, biciușcă in 1743, biciuț and biciușor in the 1870s and 1880s.^[4] In modern prison slang bici is a first offender.^[10]

Timeline

• 1560–1561 – Coresi's Tetraevanghel, the first record.^[4]
• 1563 – Coresi's Praxiu.^[3]
• c. 1675 – a purcede în bici “to set off at a gallop” in Miron Costin's chronicle.^[3][2]
• 1682 – the verb biciui in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints.^[4]
• 1688 – bice, bicele, biciul in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1691–1697 – the diminutive bicișor in Teodor Corbea's dictionary.^[4]
• 1743 – biciușcă in Neculce's chronicle.^[4]
• 1857 – biciuială “whipping” in Polizu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1868 – biciuitor “lashing” in Alecsandri.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A whip: a strap or plaited thongs, rarely of hemp, tied to a stick, used to drive animals or to beat.^[6][2]
2. A lash, a blow given with a whip.^[6][2]
3. (figurative) A scourge, a calamity: biciul războiului “the scourge of war”.^[3][11]
4. (slang) In prison slang, a first offender.^[10]

Word family

• bicișor
• biciui
• biciuială
• biciuitor
• biciușcă
• biciușor
• biciuț

Usage notes

The expression biciul lui Dumnezeu “the scourge of God” is said of a cruel person or a calamity.^[2][3] DELR lists a separate Transylvanian and Banat word bici “estimate, value”, recorded c. 1650, whose source is Hungarian becs.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 203
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. bici
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. bici
5. ^ a b c d 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. bici
6. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 102
7. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite
9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 3 Kingdoms 12:11
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. bici
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. bici
12. ^ 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. biciului