căpățână

Forms

căpățână f (plural căpățâni)^[1] The Moldavian variant căpățină occurs in folk poetry: „Căpățina i-o tăiam Și la corbi o giuruiam” “I cut off his head and promised it to the ravens”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *capitīna, a derivative of caput (“head”).^{[3][4][2][5][6][1]} DELR gives this as the main view, after Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the REW, the DA and the DEX, and compares Italian capitino (“cap of a flail”).^[3] Tiktin compares the Romanian nouns in -ină such as albină, lumină and rădăcină.^[2] The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian cãpãtsãnã and Megleno-Romanian căptsǫnă.^[7][8] Ciorănescu also compares Albanian kaptinë.^[7]

Ciorănescu calls the origin uncertain.^[7] He notes the Latin explanation, with the derivative formed on the model of morticina, but argues that the sense “skull, dead man's head” cannot be the original one.^[7] He prefers an expressive formation from Romanian cap (“head”), like ierbotină from iarbă.^[7] DELR gives this view as the second, probable explanation.^[3] According to Capidan, a Bulgarian dialect word comes from the Romanian one, and the Albanian one possibly does too.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the place name Căpățâna in 1505.^[3][2] A stream name formed on the derivative căpățânos is recorded even earlier, in 1503.^[3] The Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary renders keăpeczenă with Latin calvaria “skull”.^[5] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has the word in the Gospel passages on the “place of a skull” (Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:17).^[9] MDA2 dates its first record to before 1749.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a head severed from the body: an animal's head, often cooked as food, and a dead man's skull.^[2][5][6] Used of the living, it is ironic or contemptuous for a big or stupid human head.^[5][6] A proverb recorded by Iordache Golescu says două căpățâni într-o căciulă “two heads in one cap” of people who think alike.^[5]

From the shape of the head it passed to round or conical things: the head of a cabbage, of garlic or an onion, of a nail or pin, and the căpățână de zahăr “sugarloaf”.^[2][6] In technical use it is the hub of a cart wheel, a mill roller and part of a cooper's tool, and in folk astronomy the constellation Perseus.^[4][7]

Descăpățâna “to behead” is recorded from 1673.^[3] Încăpățânat “stubborn” (1868) and încăpățâna “to persist stubbornly” (1892) are, according to the DA, possibly calques of French entêté and s'entêter.^[3]

Timeline

• 1503 – a stream name formed on căpățânos.^[3]
• 1505 – the place name Căpățâna, the first record of the word.^[3][2]
• 1673 – descăpățâna “to behead”.^[3]
• 1688 – căpățânii “of the skull” in the Gospel of Matthew in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• before 1749 – MDA2's first record of the noun in a Romanian text.^[4]
• 1868 – încăpățânat “stubborn”.^[3]
• 1892 – încăpățâna “to persist stubbornly”.^[3]
• 1906 – căpățânoasă, a plant name.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The head of a dead or slaughtered animal, especially one used as food: căpățână de miel “lamb's head”.^[6][10]
2. A dead person's head, a skull.^[6][4]
3. (ironic) A (big) human head.^[6][11]
4. The swollen part of some plants, formed by the stem or by overlapping leaves, a bulb or head: căpățână de varză “head of cabbage”.^[6][4]
5. A name for various conical or rounded objects: căpățână de zahăr “sugarloaf”.^[6][2]
6. (regional) The hub of a cart wheel.^[4][7]
7. (folk astronomy) The constellation Perseus.^[4][12]

Word family

• descăpățâna
• căpățânos
• încăpățâna
• încăpățânat

Related words

• cap
• țeastă
• Aromanian cãpãtsãnã
• Latin caput

Usage notes

The plural is căpățâni, regionally căpățâne.^[4] The spelling căpățînă is the one used from 1953 to 1993.^[7][10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. căpățână
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. căpățână
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 325
5. ^ a b c d e 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. căpățână
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 158
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. căpățână
8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 257
9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Mt 27:33
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 364
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. căpățână
12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 247