căluș

Forms

căluș n (plural călușuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian cal + -uș, a diminutive of “horse”, literally “little horse”.^[2][3][4][5] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the noun for the horse, which is from Latin caballus (“horse”).^[5] Tiktin notes that the word is neuter although the noun for the horse is masculine, and still derives it from that noun.^[6] Scriban compares the plural ⟨cocoașe⟩ of cocoș.^[7]

Several technical senses follow foreign models: the sense “easel” copies French chevalet, itself a “little horse”.^[8][6] For the sense “bridge of a violin” the DA compares Polish kobyłka and Serbo-Croatian kobilica, literally “little mare”.^[4] For the senses “pulley of the heddles” and “cluster of hazelnuts”, CADE proposed a separate source, ⟨*cărluș⟩ from Latin carrulum (“small cart”);^[1] DELR reports the view and finds it difficult on phonetic grounds.^[8] Wiktionary also mentions Vulgar Latin *collusium (“secret agreement”) as a possible source of the name of the dance, but DEX, MDA2, DELR and the DA treat the dance as a sense of the same diminutive.^[1][2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and DELR date the first record to 1588, in a document.^[6][8] MDA2 gives Dosoftei's lives of the saints (1682–1686) as its first record.^[3] Tiktin adds that the folk dance was already described in 1572.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Like cal itself, the diminutive was applied to small wooden objects that bear or hold something: a peg that joins two pieces, a part of the plough, the pulley of the heddles on the loom, a rest for a gun while aiming, an easel, and the bridge of a string instrument.^[3][6] A piece of wood put between an animal's front teeth to keep its mouth open gave the sense “gag”, a wad of cloth pushed into a person's mouth to stop them shouting, and the phrase a pune cuiva călușul în gură “to silence someone”.^[2][3] Scriban and the regional dictionaries also record the sense “clothes peg”.^[7][9]

The name of the dance, călușul, is danced around Whitsun (Rusalii) by a band of young men, the călușari.^[2] Luat din căluș “taken by the căluș” named a kind of epileptic illness that only the călușari could cure.^[6] DELR dates călușan “dancer of the călușul” to 1716 and călușar in that sense to 1825.^[8]

Timeline

• 1588 – the first record of the word.^[6][8]
• 1682–1686 – Dosoftei's lives of the saints, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1716 – călușan “a dancer of the călușul”.^[8]
• 1825 – călușar “a dancer of the călușul”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gag: a piece of wood or metal put between an animal's front teeth to keep its mouth open, or a wad of cloth pushed into a person's mouth to stop them crying out.^[2][3]
2. A small stick in the trigger of a wooden trap.^[2]
3. The bridge of a string instrument, the small piece of wood that holds up the strings.^[2][6]
4. An easel.^[2][3]
5. A tool for turning the rods in percussion or hand drilling.^[2]
6. (usually with the article) Călușul, a folk dance with many figures performed around Whitsun by a band of young men, and its tune.^[2]
7. (regional) A clothes peg.^[7][9]

Word family

• călușar

Related words

• cal
• călare

Usage notes

The usual plural is călușuri;^{[10][11][12][1]} MDA2 also records călușe, and the regional variant scăluș.^[3][6] The fixed expression a pune (cuiva) călușul în gură means “to stop someone from speaking”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 157
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 322
4. ^ a b 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. căluș
5. ^ a b 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. cal
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. căluș
7. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 246
8. ^ 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. cal
9. ^ a b Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 46
10. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 51
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3273