chibrit

Forms

chibrit n (plural chibrituri)^[1] Besides the usual plural chibrituri there is a popular plural chibrite: Șăineanu quotes trei surcele de chibrite “three match splinters” from a folk text.^[2][3] DELR records the regional variants cibric, cribit, tibric, țibric and țiribic.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish كبریت (kibrit, “sulphur; match”).^{[4][5][6][7][1]} The Turkish word is of Arabic origin: Arabic كِبْرِيت (kibrīt, “sulphur”).^[5][8][1] Wiktionary traces the Arabic word through Aramaic to Akkadian kibrītu (“sulphur; firebrand”).^[1] The same Arabic word gave Spanish alcrebite “sulphur”.^[5][8]

The word is shared with the other Balkan languages: Albanian kibrit and Bulgarian кибрит (kibrit) also mean “match”, and Greek has Modern Greek κιμπρίτης (kimprítis, “thin as a stick”).^[5][9] DELR explains the variants cribit and tibric by metathesis, and cibric from the latter by the change of /t/ to an affricate.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dumitrache's chronicle of about 1775, with the figurative sense “zeal, ardour”: „ci cum luară știre, dobândiră deosebit chibrit” “but as soon as they learned of it, they gained a particular zeal”.^[7][10][4] Ciorănescu also notes that before the match the word was current in the early 19th century as a Turkism meaning “ardour, anger”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The friction match was invented around 1830; the first Romanian match factory opened in 1879, and matches were a state monopoly from 1886.^[5] The word then took on its present sense, which Alecsandri's plays show.^[2][10] Folk beliefs grew up around the match: spilled matches announce guests, and a crackling match money.^[3][10]

Figurative senses come from the thin stick and its quick flame: a tall thin person, and a quick-tempered one;^[10][3][2] i-a dat cu chibritul pe la nas means “he made him angry”.^[10][3][2] Bulgarian has the same sense of a quick-tempered person.^[9] In the Danube plain and in Bucharest chibrit also means “box of matches”, a sense that Turkish lacks but Bulgarian has, so Graur takes it, and the phrase băț de chibrit “matchstick”, from Bulgarian.^[11] In school slang a chibrit is the mark one, the lowest.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1775 – “zeal, ardour” in Dumitrache's chronicle, the first record.^[7][4]
• early 19th century – current as a Turkism meaning “ardour, anger”.^[5]
• 1868 – the derivative chibritelniță “match holder”.^[4]
• 1879 – the first Romanian match factory.^[5]
• 1886 – matches become a state monopoly.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A match: a small stick of wood with a head of inflammable paste that lights when rubbed; by extension, a matchbox: A aprins focul cu ultimul chibrit din cutie.^[6][2]
2. (figurative, colloquial) A tall, thin person.^[2][10]
3. (figurative, colloquial) A quick-tempered, irascible person.^[2][10]
4. (obsolete, figurative) Ardour, zeal; a spur.^[2][7]
5. (school slang) The mark one, the lowest mark.^[12]

Word family

• chibritelniță

Related words

• Ottoman Turkish كبریت (kibrit)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 377
3. ^ a b c d Șăineanu, Lazăr (1900), Influența orientală asupra limbei și culturei române, vol. I: Introducerea; vol. II.1: Vorbele populare; vol. II.2: Vorbele istorice, literare, Indice, București: Socec, p. II.1, 109
4. ^ 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. chibrit
5. ^ 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. chibrit
6. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 177
7. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. chibrit
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 266
9. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 353
10. ^ a b c d e f g 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. chibrit
11. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1975), Alte etimologii românești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. chibrit
12. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. chibrit