cabană

Forms

cabană f (plural cabane)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cabane (“hut, shack”).^[2][3][4][1] The French word is from Occitan cabana, from Late Latin capanna (“hut”).^[2][1] Isidore of Seville records the Late Latin word, of uncertain, perhaps pre-Roman origin.^[5] Wiktionary calls the word a doublet of cabină.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates it to 1844, in the sense of a shelter for tourists.^[2] MDA2's first record of this sense is much later, in the sports paper Sportul popular of 1963.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Scriban in 1939 still felt it as a barbarism for a shelter for excursionists, which might even be a proper house.^[7] The modern sense is a house, usually of wood and in the mountains, where tourists and hunters stay;^[3][8] DN also has a light house outside a settlement.^[3][8] DELR records cabanier, the keeper of a cabană, from 1937.^[2] Hungarian borrowed the word as Hungarian kabanna.^[1]

Timeline

• 1844 – the first record, a shelter for tourists.^[2]
• 1937 – cabanier “keeper of a cabană”.^[2]
• 1939 – Scriban: a shelter for excursionists, a barbarism.^[7]
• 1963 – Sportul popular, MDA2's first record.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chalet or hut: a house, usually of wood and in the mountains, where tourists and hunters stay.^[3][6][1]
2. A house of light materials outside a town or village.^[8]

Word family

• cabanier

Usage notes

Two older words were also spelled cabană.^[9] One is a rare women's holiday coat of southern Moldavia, recorded in 1885;^[9][6] DA takes it as a back-formation from cabaniță, and others from Serbo-Croatian kaban.^[9][6] The other, from French caban, was a hooded cloak worn by soldiers, recorded in 1898;^[9][10] CADE also has it as an overcoat of priests and bailiffs.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. cabană
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 130
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. cabană
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 271
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 213
8. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. cabană
9. ^ a b c d e 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. cabaniță
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cabană