biscuit

Forms

biscuit m (plural biscuiți)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French biscuit, the source given by the DELR, Ciorănescu, MDA2, the DEX and the DA.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The DELR analyses the French word as Latin bis- (“twice”) and cuit (“baked”), the past participle of cuire, which continues coquō (“to cook, bake”).^[2] The DHLF dates the modern French spelling to 1538, a learned remodelling after Latin of Old French bescuit (“twice baked”) (about 1112), which goes back to Medieval Latin biscoctus, understood with the word for bread.^[7]

The variants have other sources: the DELR explains biscopt as a Romanian adaptation, biscot as Italian biscotto and biscoct as a Latinising form.^[2] Ciorănescu also takes that variant from Italian and explains pișcot as a Balkan pronunciation, comparing Serbo-Croatian piškot.^[3] Wiktionary calls it a doublet that came through Hungarian.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DELR's first record is the variant biscopt, in a newspaper of 4 April 1835.^[2] MDA2 starts its record with the DA of 1913.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the DA the word names a light pastry of eggs, flour and sugar baked until dry, and the dictionary compares pișcot, pesmet and posmag.^[6] Later dictionaries add senses from ceramics: unglazed ware fired once, an intermediate stage in making faience and porcelain, and porcelain fired twice so that it looks like marble.^[2][5] The DN also uses it for a statuette of unglazed faience or porcelain.^[8] Gabinschi counts it among the European words of French origin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1835 – biscopt in a newspaper of 4 April, the first record.^[2]
• 1913 – biscuit “dry sweet pastry” in the first volume of the DA.^[6][4]
• 1955–1957 – the DLRLC defines it as a pastry baked in various shapes and dried.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A biscuit or cookie: a dry baked product of sweet dough cut in various shapes.^[5][2]
2. (ceramics) Unglazed ware fired once, an intermediate product in making faience and porcelain.^[5][4]
3. Porcelain fired twice, with a texture like marble.^[5][2]
4. A statuette or small group in unglazed faience or porcelain.^[8]

Related words

• pișcot
• French biscuit
• Italian biscotto

Usage notes

The DELR records the variant biscuite and the obsolete biscoct, biscot and biscotă;^[2] biscotă was reshaped after words such as prăjitură and tartă.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. biscuit
3. ^ 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. biscuit
4. ^ 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, 211
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 106
6. ^ 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. biscuit
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. biscuit
9. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 141
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 242