cimitir

Forms

cimitir n (plural cimitire)^[1] Older and Latinising variants are țimiteriu (Dosoftei), chimiterion (the Menaion of 1776), chimitir (Anton Pann), cemeteriu and cimiter.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

DELR takes it as borrowed from Italian cimitero, with the variant cemeterio, and less probably French cimetière.^[2] Ciorănescu also names Italian, after an older borrowing from Greek of the 18th century.^[5] DEX and MDA2 give both Modern Greek κοιμητήριον (kimitírion) and the Italian word.^[6][4] Tiktin starts from the Greek: the older ⟨chi-⟩ was replaced by ⟨ci-⟩ in a learned Romanianisation after French and Italian, as in cedru and decembrie, while țimiteriu goes back to Medieval Latin cimeterium.^[3][7] DELR likewise derives chimiterion and chimitir from Greek and the form in ⟨ți-⟩ from the Latin of scholars.^[2]

The Italian word comes from Late Latin cimiterium, a variant of coemeterium, borrowed from Ancient Greek κοιμητήριον (koimētḗrion), first “sleeping room”, then “burial place”, from κοιμάω (koimáō, “to put to sleep”).^[8][9][1] The Christian name pictures the dead as lying asleep until the resurrection.^[9]

The Greek word reached the south as well: Aromanian chimitir and Megleno-Romanian chimitiriu.^[10][11][5] It is a doublet of țintirim, which came through Hungarian cinterem.^[1][12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and DELR date the first record to Dosoftei in 1682–1683, in the form țimiteriu, a churchyard or burial ground.^[2][3] MDA2's first record is the Menaion of 1776, with chimiterion.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged first to church use, and in the DA's time it was the usual word of Muntenia and the neighbouring parts of Transylvania;^[7] Moldavia said țintirim, and other regions progadie, îngropelniță, dormir or grădina morților.^[7][5] The figurative cimitir de mașini “scrapyard of cars” follows French cimetière de voitures.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 1682 – țimiteriu in Dosoftei.^[2][3]
• 1776 – chimiterion in the Menaion.^[4][3]
• 1997 – cimitire de mașini “car scrapyards” in the Bucharest press.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cemetery, graveyard: (enclosed) ground where the dead are buried.^[6][4][1]
2. (figurative) A place where worn-out things are left: cimitir de mașini “car scrapyard”.^[16][15][14]

Related words

• țintirim
• Aromanian chimitir

Usage notes

Regional synonyms include țintirim (Moldavia), progadie and grădina morților.^[4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. cimitir
3. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cimitír
4. ^ 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, 396
5. ^ a b c 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. cimitir
6. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic
7. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
11. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
12. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera
13. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
14. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
15. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
16. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne