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boroacă

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word boroacă

boroacă1 goby

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1947 Băcescu's ethnozoological study of fishes

Forms

boroacă f (plural boroace)[1]

Etymology

The word for the goby is of unknown origin.[2] Wiktionary mentions a possible link with the homonym meaning “swelling”, but only as a conjecture.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Mihai Băcescu's 1947 study of fishes as Romanian fishermen see them, where the word names the goby.[2]

Timeline

  • 1947 – the fish name in Băcescu's study of fishermen's fish names, the first record.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (ichthyology, regional, rare) A goby, a fish of the genus Gobius.[2][1]

boroacă2 swelling

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1928 Ciaușanu, Fira and Popescu's Vâlcea glossary
Inherited from
Latin verruca
Ultimate origin
Latin verrūca
Etymology tree of boroacă2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin verrūca
Romanian boroacă

Forms

boroacă f (plural boroace)[1]

Etymology

The word for a swelling is probably inherited from Latin verrūca (“wart; hillock”), an etymology first proposed by Ovid Densusianu.[3][4][1] DELR still calls the origin uncertain and explains the form through ⟨*bărucă⟩ and ⟨*borucă⟩, with /ă/ rounded to /o/ after /b/, as in măcioacă from măciucă.[4] Ciorănescu adds that the word is rare and that he did not know it himself.[3] The Latin word continues in the other Romance languages, for example French verrue, Spanish verruga and Portuguese verruga.[5][4] Wiktionary takes it as a doublet of verucă.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is a Vâlcea glossary of 1928, from Oltenia, with the sense “swelling, lump, cyst”.[4]

Semantic evolution

The variant boroagă also means a heap of gravel, sand and wood at the mouth of a stream.[4] The adjective borocos “swollen” is recorded in the same glossary;[1] Densusianu took it from Latin verrūcōsus, while Teaha derives it from boroacă.[4]

Timeline

  • 1928 – boroacă “swelling, cyst” and borocos “swollen” in a Vâlcea glossary.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (regional, rare) A swelling or tumour; a lump or cyst.[3][4][1]

Word family

  • borocos

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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, 233
  3. ^ a b c 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. boroacă
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. boroacă
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9241

Related etymologies

  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
  • sta · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Boroacă.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/boroac%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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