cocaină

Forms

cocaină f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cocaïne.^[2][3][4][1] The French word is formed from coca, the plant whose leaves contain it, and the suffix -ine.^[2][1] Scriban instead derives it in Romanian from cocă, his spelling of the plant's name.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is Șăineanu's dictionary of 1896, in the sense of the alkaloid used as a local anaesthetic.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The first dictionaries define it as an anaesthetic of eye and dental medicine.^[6][7] The DA adds that it is a dangerous stupefiant and quotes a novel on the white lips and burnt nostrils of its users.^[8] A family of French medical terms followed: cocainoman “cocaine addict” in 1931, cocainomanie “cocaine addiction” in 1933, cocainism in 1978.^[2] Slang has many names for the drug, among them praf “dust”, zăpadă “snow” and coc.^[9]

Timeline

• 1896 – cocaină in Șăineanu's dictionary, the first record.^[2]
• 1931 – cocainoman “cocaine addict” in the CADE.^[2]
• 1933 – cocainomanie in the DA.^[2]
• 1963 – pseudococaină, an anaesthetic ester.^[2]
• 1978 – cocainism “acute cocaine poisoning”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. cocaine: an alkaloid extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, used as a local anestezic and as a narcotic.^[3][4][1]

Word family

• cocainoman
• cocainomanie
• cocainism

Related words

• coca
• French cocaïne

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. coca
3. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 200
4. ^ 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, 447
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 309
6. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 143
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cocaină
8. ^ 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. cocaină
9. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. cocaină