cince

Forms

cince m^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cīmex (“bedbug”), continued from its accusative cīmicem.^[2][3][4][1] Drăganu identified the Latin source, and Ciorănescu also cites the DA and Pușcariu for it.^[2][4] MDA2 gives the etymon as a Latin form cinex.^[5] The Latin word is recorded from Livius Andronicus on, and its origin is unknown: de Vaan finds the link with Indo-European words for "dark" unconvincing.^[6]

The Latin word lives on elsewhere in Romance: DELR names Dalmatian, Italian, Sardinian, Old Spanish and Old Portuguese.^[3] The REW lists Italian cimice, Sardinian kimige and Spanish chinche.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word was recorded in the Banat, in the phrase mi-s cince de sătul “I am as full as a bedbug”, reported to the DA by Coca;^[4][2] Drăganu discussed it in the first volume of Dacoromania.^[4][2] DELR dates the phrase to 1920.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Only the figurative phrase keeps the old noun: someone who has eaten well is compared to a bedbug swollen with the blood it has sucked.^[4][3] Ciorănescu notes that the word survives only in the Banat and only in this expression, meaning simply “sated”.^[2] The regional dictionaries also give the plain sense “bedbug”.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 1920 – cince de sătul from the Banat, discussed by Drăganu in Dacoromania.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) bedbug, the same insect as ploșniță and stelniță.^[5][8]
2. (Banat) in the phrase (a fi) cince de sătul or sătul cince: to be full to bursting, sated.^[5][3][1]

Related words

• Latin cīmex
• ploșniță

Usage notes

The DA also has a separate headword cince, a numeral form that it refers to cinci.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. cince
3. ^ 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. cince
4. ^ 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. cince
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 398
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1915
8. ^ a b Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. cince