bine

Forms

bine^[1] As an adjective the word does not change for gender or number: o fată bine “a good-looking girl”.^[1][2] In Moldavia the word is pronounced ghine, as in Aromanian.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bene (“well”), the adverb belonging to bonus (“good”) (Old Latin duenos), and it survives in all the Romance languages.^{[4][2][5][6][1]} The word is found in all four branches: Aromanian ghine, Megleno-Romanian bini and Istro-Romanian bire.^{[4][2][7][8][9]} Its Romance cognates include Italian bene, Occitan ben, French bien, Spanish bien and Portuguese bem.^[2][5] Tiktin notes that the Moldavian and Aromanian form with ⟨gh⟩ seems to require an older form with a diphthong, which is hard to reconcile with the spelling ⟨bene⟩ of the old texts.^[3]

As the first part of compounds the word renders Ancient Greek εὐ- (eu-), as in binecredincios “devout”.^[2] The philosophical sense “the Good” is a calque of Ancient Greek ἀγαθός (agathós) and German das Gut.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin gives a record of 1458, from Drăganu.^[3] In Romanian texts it appears in the Hurmuzaki Psalter, of about 1500, in the sense “well, in a favourable way”.^[4][11] MDA2 dates its first record to the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583).^[6]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is “in a favourable, satisfactory way”, opposed to rău; from it come “properly, as one should”, “correctly”, “carefully” and, of quantity, “fully, a good deal”: a plouat bine “it rained heavily”.^[10][3][2] Used as a noun it means “welfare, happiness” and also “property, goods”.^[2] Used as an indeclinable adjective it describes a person as well-dressed or presentable, a familiar use.^[2][4] Alone, it serves as a word of agreement, “all right, yes”.^[2]

The family is old: binișor “fairly well, gently” is recorded from 1581, and binețe “greeting” from 1632, formed on greetings such as bine ați venit “welcome”.^[4][2] The phrase de-a binelea “altogether, for good” is recorded from 1876.^[4]

Timeline

• 1458 – the earliest record that Tiktin gives, from Drăganu.^[3]
• c. 1500 – the Hurmuzaki Psalter, the first Romanian text with the word.^[4][11]
• c. 1563 – the Codicele Voronețean.^[6]
• 1570 – Coresi's Psalter has the word 31 times.^[12]
• 1581 – binișor “fairly well”, in Lucaci's Pravila.^[4]
• 1632 – binețe “greeting”, in Eustratie's Pravila.^[4]
• 1876 – de-a binelea “altogether”.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. well, in a favourable or useful way; in greetings: bine ai venit! “welcome!”; of health: mă simt bine “I feel well”.^[10][6]
2. Properly, in keeping with good manners; also skilfully or beautifully: cântă bine “she sings well”.^[10]
3. Correctly, as is true; carefully, with attention: uită-te bine “look closely”.^[10]
4. Fully, thoroughly;^[10] (with a comparative) more: o oră și mai bine “over an hour”.^[10]
5. (as a reply) All right, agreed.^[2]

Noun

1. What is useful or beneficial to someone, benefit: om de bine “a helpful person”;^[10] a face bine cuiva “to help someone”.^[10]
2. What is morally right.^[10]
3. (philosophy) The good, as the object of ethics.^[10]

Adjective

1. (familiar, of people) Good-looking, presentable.^[2][4][1]

Word family

• binișor
• binețe
• binecuvânta

Related words

• bun

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. bine
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. bine
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. bine
5. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 17
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 207
7. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 54
8. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 81
9. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 103
11. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 66:1
12. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 13:2