butoi

Forms

butoi n (plural butoaie)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian bute + -oi, with the augmentative suffix.^[2][3][4][5] It lost the augmentative sense, became a synonym of its base word and has largely replaced it.^[1] MDA2 and Scriban even describe a butoi as smaller than a bute.^[3][5] The base word is from Late Latin buttis (“cask”), a late Latin word that DELR relates to Ancient Greek πυτίνη (putínē, “flask”).^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1589, from Damian Bogdan's glossary.^[4][7] The dictionaries of the 1800s already have it: Klein's of 1801 glosses it with Hungarian and German words for a small cask.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Scriban labels it southern; in the east and in Moldavia the usual word is poloboc.^[5][3] Regional forms include feminine butoaie and butoaică in the Apuseni Mountains and butoană in Transylvania.^[4][7] It also came to mean the contents of a barrel and, from its shape, the cylinder of a revolver.^[2][3] Phrases include butoi fără fund “bottomless barrel”, of someone who drinks without measure, and butoi cu pulbere “powder keg”, a region in constant conflict.^[2][3] In Muntenia the word also names the timber lining inside a well.^[9]

Timeline

• 1589 – the first record, in D. Bogdan's glossary.^[4][7]
• 1691–1697 – the diminutive butoiaș in Teodor Corbea's dictionary.^[4]
• 1801 – butóiu in Klein's dictionary.^[8]
• 1870 – the verb îmbutoia “to put wine into a barrel” in Costinescu.^[4]
• 1888 – feminine butoaie and butoaică in the Apuseni Mountains.^[4]
• 1893 – butoană in Transylvania.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A barrel, cask: a wooden vessel of staves, wider in the middle than at the ends, for keeping liquids or pickles; bute.^[2][3]
2. The contents of such a barrel: un butoi de vin.^[2][10]
3. The cylinder of a revolver, into which the cartridges are loaded.^[2][3]
4. butoi fără fund: someone who drinks, or eats, without measure;^[2][3] a vorbi ca din butoi: to speak hoarsely.^[2][3]
5. butoi cu pulbere: a powder keg, a region of constant conflict;^[3] a aprinde butoiul cu pulbere: to set off a conflict.^[3]
6. (regional) The timber lining inside a well.^[9]

Word family

• butoiaș
• îmbutoia

Related words

• bute
• poloboc
• Late Latin buttis

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 128
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 268
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. bute
5. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 211
6. ^ 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. bute
7. ^ 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. butoi
8. ^ 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), p. 320
9. ^ a b Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. 62
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. butoi