bum

Etymology

It is an onomatopoeia for a dull blow or a bang.^[1][2][3][4] DELR adds that it may have come in through other languages, comparing French boum and German bumm.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in Kogălniceanu in 1850, reduplicated as bum-bum.^[5] Tiktin's is from Alecsandri in 1870, where a Turk speaking broken Romanian imitates gunfire with bumba, bumba.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It imitates the report of a gun, an explosion, a fall or a dull blow.^[5][1] Șăineanu gave it as the sound of a drum, Scriban as thunder, and DEXI names both the gun and the drum.^[6][7][8]

Timeline

• 1850 – bum-bum in Kogălniceanu, the first record.^[5]
• 1870 – bumba in Alecsandri.^[3]

Meanings

Interjection

1. boom, bang: imitates the report of a gun, an explosion, a dull blow or a fall.^[1][2][4]

Related words

• buf

Usage notes

Dictionaries list other words spelled bum: DEXI's bum² is a sailing term from English boom, the spar along the foot of a sail, also called ghiu.^[8][9] The DN also gives bum as a variant of boom “economic boom”; both are separate borrowings from English.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 125
2. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 259
3. ^ 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. bum
4. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d 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. bum
6. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 84
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 206
8. ^ a b Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. bum
9. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. bum