bluză

Forms

bluză f (plural bluze)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French blouse, one of the French borrowings of the 19th century.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DEXI names Modern Greek μπλούζα (blúza) as a second source.^[6] The French word itself, recorded from 1788, is of obscure, probably regional origin: a link with blaude, a carter's or peasant's smock, fits the meaning but leaves the change of /d/ to /z/ unexplained.^[7] DELR too calls its origin unknown.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Golescu's Condica, about 1832, for a light garment worn on the upper body.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The garment named by the word changed with fashion.^[8][9] Scriban in 1939 describes a summer garment of town women, a cotton tunic of soldiers and schoolboys, and the smock that craftsmen and porters wore to spare their clothes;^[8][10] CADE has the same three.^[8][10] The worker's smock gave bluză albastră “blue blouse”, a dated name for a worker, and the hapax bluzar “French worker”, after French blousard.^[4][3] Șăineanu also records a billiard sense, a pocket at the side of the table.^[11] Today the word means above all a woman's shirt-like garment reaching to the waist.^[9][12]

Romanian derived the verb bluza “to make (a bodice) blouse over the belt”, recorded from 1898, the diminutive bluziță and bluzon “long loose blouse”, recorded from 1903.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – the first record, in Golescu's Condica.^[3][5]
• 1873 – bluzar “French worker”, a hapax in Odobescu.^[3]
• 1898 – the participle bluzat of the verb bluza.^[3]
• 1903 – bluzon “long loose blouse”.^[3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu lists the work smock, the woman's, boy's or soldier's garment and the billiard pocket.^[11]
• 1959 – the diminutive bluziță.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blouse or shirt: a light garment for the upper body, like a man's shirt, worn mostly by women.^[9][13]
2. A cloth tunic worn by soldiers in summer in place of the jacket.^[4][13]
3. A protective smock worn by workers over their clothes.^[4][14]
4. (dated) bluză albastră “blue blouse”: a worker.^[4]

Word family

• bluza
• bluziță
• bluzon
• bluzuliță

Related words

• French blouse

Usage notes

The plural is bluze.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. bluză
3. ^ 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. bluză
4. ^ 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, 218
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. blúză
6. ^ Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. bluză
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 180
9. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 109
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. bluză
11. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 68
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. bluză
13. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. bluză
14. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 84