butuc

Forms

butuc m (plural butuci)^[1] Variants include butug in Transylvania, and butur, butor, butău and butură.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain: DEX calls it of unknown origin.^[5] DELR takes it as probably formed from Romanian *but- + -uc, a diminutive of an old base ⟨but-⟩, also present in butură and perhaps in bucium.^[4] The DA already saw ⟨but-⟩ as an old stem, without naming its source.^[6][4]

For the base DELR names two kinds of proposal: Tagliavini, Russu and A. Ionescu took it as a substrate word;^[4] Ionescu compared Proto-Indo-European *bʰud- (“to strike, push”).^[4] Others see an old Germanic loan, comparing Old Norse butr (“log, stump”), Middle English butt (“thick end”) and Low German butt (“blunt end”);^[4][2] Diculescu proposed a Gepidic word, which Gamillscheg and Scriban accepted and Densusianu rejected.^[4][2]

Ciorănescu derives it instead from Vulgar Latin *bottum (“blunt; round object”) with a diminutive suffix, as in sătuc from sat, and calls it a doublet of bot.^[2] He reviews older views: Densusianu's Kipchak butak (“branch”), Turkish sources proposed by Șăineanu and Treimer, Tiktin's Slavic one, and Candrea's *buttula.^[2] Densusianu derived the related ⟨butură⟩ from Bulgarian ботур (botur, “stump”).^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's and Tiktin's first record is of 1601, a personal name in a document glossed by D. Bogdan.^[4][8] MDA2's first record is in the chronicle of Simion Dascălul.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the sense “stump, log” the word was applied to many thick pieces of wood: the block on which wood or meat is chopped, the stocks in which prisoners' feet, hands or necks were held, the lower part of a vine stem, the hub of a wheel, the upper part of the yoke and the frame of the loom.^[4][5] The hub sense was later extended to the centre of any rotating part, such as a propeller or a steering wheel.^[4]

As a figure of speech it means a dull, coarse person, and adverbially a dormi butuc is “to sleep like a log”.^[5][8] Its derivatives butucos and butucănos “coarse, clumsy” are recorded from 1780–1801.^[4]

Timeline

• 1601 – a personal name, the first record.^[4][8]
• 1780–1801 – butucos and butucănos “coarse” in Micu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1862 – îmbutuci “to put in the stocks” in Pontbriant.^[4]
• 1882 – butuci “to put in the stocks” in Ispirescu.^[4]
• 1885 – the diminutive butucel.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A piece of a felled tree trunk cleared of branches; a log, a thick piece of firewood.^[5][1]
2. A chopping block for firewood or meat; formerly the executioner's block.^[5]
3. (figurative) A dull, uncouth person.^[5]
4. The thick lower part of a vine stem.^[5]
5. The hub of a wheel; the central part of a rotating piece, into which spokes or blades are fixed.^[5][1]
6. (historical) The stocks: a thick piece of wood with holes in which prisoners' feet, hands or neck were held.^[5][4]
7. The upper part of the yoke.^[5]
8. The frame or seat of a loom.^[5]

Word family

• butucaș
• butucănos
• butucel
• butuci
• butucos
• butușină
• îmbutuci
• buturugă

Related words

• bot

Usage notes

A lega butuc means “to tie someone up so that they cannot move”, and a dormi butuc “to sleep like a log”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. butuc
3. ^ 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, 268
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. butuc
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 129
6. ^ 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. butuc
7. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 70
8. ^ 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. butuc