călcâi

Forms

călcâi n (plural călcâie)^[1] Regional forms are călcăi in Moldavia, călcâniu in Banat and călchiiu in Sălaj.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin calcāneum (“heel”), from calx (“heel”).^{[2][4][5][1][6]} It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian cãlcãnju and Megleno-Romanian călcǫn'.^[2][4][1][7] Its Romance cognates include Italian calcagno, Occitan calcanh and Spanish calcaño.^[4][8] The Latin word for the heel is of uncertain origin: de Vaan finds a link with Baltic and Slavic words for parts of the leg doubtful, and the non-Indo-European origin some have proposed lacks a concrete source.^[9][1] calcaneu, the medical term taken from Latin, is a doublet of it.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Coresi's Psalter of 1570, with călcâiul “the heel” (Psalm 55:6) and călcâiului (Psalm 48:5).^[10][2] It is also in the Psaltirea Scheiană, from the 1570s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The heel of the foot gave the heel of a stocking or shoe, a blow with the heel, and the back or lower part of many objects: the lower edge of an axe blade, the horn of a sledge runner, the end of a loaf.^{[3][5][11][4]} Many idioms use it: a fi sub călcâi “to be under someone's heel”, a se învârti într-un călcâi “to be quick at work”, a da călcâie calului “to spur one's horse with the heels”.^[11][5][3] Colloquial speech has a-i da călcâie “to leave”.^[12] Graur argued that călcâi also served as a euphemism for a coarse word beginning with the same consonant.^[13]

DELR lists several derivatives: the verb călcâia “to stride, to crush with the heel” and the diminutives călcâior and călcâiaș; in Oltenia and Wallachia the clipped câi names the ball of the thumb and the cheekbones.^[2]

Timeline

• 1570 – călcâiul in Coresi's Psalter, the first record.^[10][2]
• 1570s – the Psaltirea Scheiană has the word.^[3]
• 1649 – călcâiul in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[14]
• 1683 – the verb călcâia.^[2]
• 1688 – călcâiul in the Bucharest Bible (Genesis 25:26).^[15]
• 1871 – the diminutive călcâior.^[2]
• 1890 – călcâiaș, a plant name.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The heel: the back of the sole of the foot; by extension the part of a sock or shoe that covers it.^[11][1]
2. A kick or blow with the heel: a da călcâie calului “to spur a horse with the heels”.^[11][5]
3. Călcâiul lui Ahile: an Achilles' heel, the weak point of a person or thing.^[11]
4. The back or lower part of various objects.^[11]
5. A heel of bread, the end piece cut from a loaf.^[16][4]

Word family

• călcâia

Related words

• calcaneu
• călca

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. călcâi
3. ^ 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. călcâi
4. ^ 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. călcîi
5. ^ 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, 320
6. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 257
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 247
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1490
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 55:6
11. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 156
12. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. călcâi
13. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. călcîi
14. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. călcîiul
15. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 25:26
16. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. călcâi