bordel

Forms

bordel n (plural bordeluri)^[1] DELR records the old variants bordeai and bordei in this sense;^[2] bordeai is the form of the first record, in Corbea's dictionary.^[2] Klein's dictionary of 1801 has bordeiu with two Latin glosses, tugurium “hut” and lupanar “brothel”.^[3][4] Besides the usual plural bordeluri, Scriban gives bordele.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French bordel.^[6][4][1] DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries give Italian bordello as a second source.^{[6][7][8][4][1]} DELR adds that the word also came in through German Bordell.^[2]

The French word first meant “hovel, little house of boards”: it is a diminutive of Old French borde (“house of boards”), from Frankish *bord (“board”).^[2][9] The Frankish word is reconstructed from its Germanic relatives, among them Old Norse borð and Old English bord.^[9][2] Old French bordel is recorded before 1105 in the sense “hut, house”, and as “brothel” from about 1200.^[10] Gabinschi describes the change as one from “little house of boards” to “hidden place”.^[11] DELR derives the old Romanian variant with ⟨-ei⟩ from Hungarian bordély.^[2] Ciorănescu considers the likeness of the French word to bordei (“hut”) a coincidence.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record DELR gives is the variant bordeai “brothel” in Teodor Corbea's dictionary of 1691–1697.^[2] Tiktin dates bordel itself to 1703.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the one sense of a house where prostitution is practised.^[6][7][2] Dictionaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries define it the same way, as a house of loose women.^[13][14][15] The DA labelled it a neologism from French.^[16] Its synonym in the literary language is lupanar, and slang has several more, among them stabiliment and tractir.^[6][17]

Timeline

• 1691–1697 – the variant bordeai in Teodor Corbea's dictionary, the first record.^[2]
• 1703 – bordel “brothel”.^[4]
• 1801 – bordeiu, glossed “hut” and “brothel”, in Klein's dictionary.^[3]
• 1870 – bordel in Costinescu's dictionary.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A brothel: a house where prostitution is practised; a lupanar.^{[6][7][18][1]}

Related words

• French bordel
• Italian bordello

Usage notes

The old variant bordei “brothel” has the same spelling as bordei “hut, dugout”, whose origin DELR considers uncertain.^[2][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. bordel
3. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study)
4. ^ 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. bordél
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 188
6. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 113
7. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 232
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. bordel
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 70
12. ^ 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. bordei
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 121
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 73
15. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. bordel
16. ^ 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. bordel
17. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. bordel
18. ^ Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. bordel
19. ^ 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. bordei