căuș

Forms

căuș n (plural căușe)^[1]

Etymology

DEX, MDA2 and DLRM take it as formed from Romanian *cau + -uș, the base going back to cavus (“hollow”).^[2][3][4][1] Philippide gave this explanation first.^[5][6] Pușcariu and the DA saw instead an unattested verb ⟨*care⟩ (first person ⟨*cau⟩) from cavō (“to hollow out”), which would also have meant “to draw a liquid from a vessel”, as Italian cavare does of wine, with the same suffix in an instrumental sense.^[7][5]

Ciorănescu derived the word from cauc (“ladle”), from caucus (“drinking cup”), by a change of suffix, and noted that the dictionaries list them under separate headwords.^[6] Cihac, Tiktin and Scriban compared Slavic words for a drinking vessel, Polish kousz and Russian ковш (kovš), and Lithuanian kaušas;^[6][8][9][5] Ciorănescu replied that Miklosich took the Slavic word from Romanian.^[6][8][9][5] Tiktin thought it probably went back to the Latin word for “cup”.^[8] Giuglea proposed Ancient Greek κάβος (kábos), a dry measure.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a text of 1637 printed in Pumnul's Lepturariu.^[8] DELR and MDA2 date it from 1682, in Dosoftei's lives of the saints, which mention a large căuș of wine.^[5][3][7] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 uses it for the water jar that stood by Saul's head (1 Samuel 26).^[10][7] A personal name Căuș is recorded in the 17th century.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is a wooden scoop or large ladle, of willow or poplar, rarely of metal, used to draw water from a well, to pour wine from the vat or to measure out flour and beans at the mill.^[7][3] MDA2 lists each use together with the quantity it holds.^[3] From these came the names of tools of the same shape: the baler of a boat, the ladle of cheese-making, the paddle of a mill wheel and a mason's trowel.^[2][8][7] Modern technical uses include a part of drilling gear and a small harbour basin for boats.^[2]

The phrase a face mâna căuș “to cup one's hand” is common.^[2] In Moldavia a-i veni (cuiva) drăguș la căuș means “to come to need someone's help”.^[8][9]

The derivatives are recent: căușa “to loosen; to get drunk” (1901), căușel (1903) and căuși “to daze” (1909).^[5]

Timeline

• 1637 – a text printed in Pumnul's Lepturariu, the first record.^[8]
• 17th century – the personal name Căuș.^[11]
• 1682 – a căuș of wine in Dosoftei's lives of the saints.^[5][3]
• 1688 – căușul “the water jar” in the Bucharest Bible.^[10]
• 1901 – the verb căușa.^[5]
• 1903 – the diminutive căușel.^[5]
• 1909 – căuși “to daze”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wooden vessel shaped like a cup or a large ladle, used to take water, flour or grain; a scoop; by extension a tool of that shape: Luă un căuș de apă din găleată. “He took a scoop of water from the bucket.”^[2][1]
2. The quantity a căuș holds, a scoopful.^[2][3]
3. A large wooden ladle for pouring wine from the vat.^[2]
4. A ladle used in cheese-making to take out and stir the curd.^[2]
5. A baler for scooping water out of a boat.^[2][7]
6. A sheet-metal piece used to join a drilling cable to a shaft or to another cable.^[2]
7. (nautical) A small basin in a harbour for boats.^[2]

Word family

• căușa
• căușel
• căuși

Related words

• cauc
• Latin cavus

Usage notes

A face mâna căuș “to cup one's hand”.^[2] Ciorănescu treated căuș and cauc as one word;^[6][5] DEX and DELR keep them apart.^[6][5]

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 l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 161
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 337
4. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 129
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. căuș
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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. cauc
7. ^ a b c d e f 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. căuș
8. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. căuș
9. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 252
10. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 1 Kingdoms 26:11
11. ^ a b Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. căuș