ceașcă

Forms

ceașcă f (plural cești)^[1] Besides cești, DA records the plural ceaște, and Scriban a southern plural ceșci.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian чашка (čaška, “cup”), according to Tiktin, DA, CADE and DEX, as DELR lists them.^{[4][5][2][6][1]} In Ciorănescu's view it is instead borrowed from Polish czaszka.^[7][4] DELR also names Ukrainian чашка (čaška), after an older dictionary.^[4] The Slavic word is a diminutive of Old Church Slavonic чаша (čaša, “cup, goblet”),^[4][7] from Proto-Slavic *čašьka, formed from *čaša with the suffix *-ьka.^[1][8] Vasmer thinks the Proto-Slavic word is probably related to Old Prussian kiosi (“cup”).^[9]

Ciorănescu compares Bulgarian чаша (čaša), Albanian tsatskë and Modern Greek τσάσκα (tsáska).^[7] DDM takes the Megleno-Romanian čáșcă from Macedonian or Bulgarian.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of 1749.^[4][5] DA's earliest literary quotation is from Alecsandri's plays: „Domnilor, nu poftiți o ceașcă de ceai?” “Gentlemen, would you care for a cup of tea?”^[2]

Semantic evolution

It names a small drinking vessel, usually of porcelain and with a handle, for coffee, tea or milk.^[2][6] Scriban sets it against felegean, a cup without a handle.^[3] By extension it is also the amount a cup holds.^[6][2] In folk poetry DA notes it as a small measure of weight, less than a litră.^[2]

Romanian formed the diminutives ceșcuță (1844) and ceșculiță (1862) and the rare collective ceșcărie “a great many cups” (1857).^[4] ceașnic “cupbearer”, recorded from 1407, is a separate and much older loan, from Slavonic чашьникъ (čašĭnikŭ).^[4][7]

Timeline

• 1749 – ceașcă “cup”, the first record.^[4][5]
• 1844 – the diminutive ceșcuță.^[4]
• 1857 – ceșcărie “a great many cups”.^[4]
• 1862 – the diminutive ceșculiță.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cup: a small, round drinking vessel with a wide mouth, usually of porcelain and with a handle.^[6][11] A pus ceștile pe tavă.^[6]
2. A cupful: the amount a cup holds, or the cup with its contents.^[6][11] A băut o ceașcă de ceai.^[6]

Word family

• ceșculiță
• ceșcuță

Related words

• Russian чашка (čaška)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. ceașcă
3. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 254
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ceașcă
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ceașcă
6. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 166
7. ^ a b c d 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. ceașcă
8. ^ Trubačev, Oleg N.; Žuravlev, Anatolij F.; Varbot, Žanna Ž. (eds.) (1974–2021), Ètimologičeskij slovar' slavjanskix jazykov: praslavjanskij leksičeskij fond, vols. 1–42, Moskva: Nauka
9. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
10. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 139
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 351