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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word colț

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1488 personal name Colțea in a Slavonic charter More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Old Church Slavonic кольць
Ultimate origin
Proto-Slavic *kolъ

Forms

colț n (plural colțuri)[1]

Etymology

According to Wiktionary, Ciorănescu and DELR it is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic кольць (kolĭcĭ), a diminutive of колъ (kolŭ, “stake”), which goes back to Proto-Slavic *kolъ (“stake”).[1][2][3] DELR marks the Slavonic form as reconstructed and explains the Romanian form from the stem of its plural and oblique cases (Bulgarian plural ⟨kolci⟩).[3] Ciorănescu, after Cihac and the DA, connects it with the Slavic verb for “to prick”.[2][4]

Other dictionaries name a living Slavic language as the source.[5][6] DEX gives Bulgarian колец (kolec, “stake”) and Serbo-Croatian kòlac (“stake”).[5] MDA2 gives Ukrainian колици (kolyci) and compares the Bulgarian and Serbian words and Polish kolec (“thorn”).[6] The BER also takes the Romanian word from the Bulgarian one.[7] Ciorănescu notes that some Romanian senses, such as “sprout” and “thorn”, appear in different Slavic languages: Ukrainian “germ” and Polish “thorn”.[2][4]

The Proto-Slavic word is related to Lithuanian kuõlas (“stake”).[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears first in names: DELR's oldest record is the personal name Colțea in a Slavonic charter of 1488, and Tiktin cites a Transylvanian place name of 1493.[3][10] The derivative colțuros, formed on the plural colțuri, is in Coresi's Gospel commentary of 1581.[3] The Latin–Romanian glossary of Caransebeș (c. 1650) gives koltz for “front tooth”, and MDA2 dates the first full record to Dosoftei's lives of the saints (1682–1686).[4][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The DA treats “tooth, fang” as the proper sense, with the plural colți; by analogy the word named the prongs of a rake, fork or harrow, rock spikes and the first shoots of grass, and finally a corner or projecting edge, with the plural colțuri.[4] Tiktin quotes Dosoftei's angel with a trident of three colți “prongs”.[10] The plural colțuri “corners” is in the Bible of 1688.[11]

Modern Romanian keeps the two plurals apart: colțuri for corners and edges, colți for teeth, prongs, rock spikes and shoots.[5] Many derivatives grew from the word;[3] DELR dates colțan “animal with large fangs; rock spike” to c. 1650, colțos “with large fangs” to 1683 and încolți “to sink the teeth in; to sprout” to 1686.[3] In recent slang a da colțul means “to die”.[12]

Timeline

  • 1488 – the personal name Colțea in a Slavonic charter, the first record.[3]
  • 1493 – a Transylvanian place name.[10]
  • 1581 – the derivative colțuros in Coresi.[3]
  • c. 1650 – koltz “front tooth” in the Caransebeș glossary;[4][3] colțan in the same text.[4][3]
  • 1660 – colțul in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.[13]
  • 1682–1686 – colți “prongs” in Dosoftei's lives of the saints.[6][10]
  • 1686 – the verb încolți.[3]
  • 1688 – colțuri “corners” in the Bucharest Bible.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (neuter, plural colțuri) A corner: the point where the edges of an object or the sides of a figure meet; the corner formed by two streets;[5][1] colțul gurii “the corner of the mouth”;[5][1] colț de pâine “the end of a loaf”.[5][1]
  2. (neuter) A newspaper column given to one subject;[5] a pune (un copil) la colț “to make a child stand in the corner as a punishment”.[5]
  3. (neuter) A remote, hidden place, a nook;[5] în toate colțurile “everywhere”.[5]
  4. (masculine, plural colți) A tooth, especially a canine or fang;[5][6] a-și arăta colții “to show one's teeth, to turn aggressive”.[5][6]
  5. (masculine) Each of the long points of a rake, fork or similar tool, a prong.[5]
  6. (masculine) An iron stud fixed to the sole of winter shoes against slipping on ice.[5]
  7. (masculine) A sharp projecting point of rock or ice.[5][14]
  8. (masculine) The tip of a plant, especially of grass, as it begins to sprout.[5]
  9. (masculine) A triangular cut along the edge of cloth; a lock of hair curled on the forehead or temples.[5]

Word family

  • colțan
  • colțar
  • colțat
  • colțăriș
  • colțișor
  • colțos
  • colțuleț
  • colțuros
  • colțușor
  • încolți

Usage notes

The two plurals split the senses: colțuri (neuter) for corners, edges and nooks, colți (masculine) for teeth, prongs, spikes and shoots.[5][4] DELR records a variant colte in Moldavia and, rarely, Oltenia.[3] Floare de colț is the edelweiss.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. colț
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. colț
  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. colț
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 208
  6. ^ 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, 465
  7. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 544
  8. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 231
  9. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
  10. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. colț
  11. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 28:16
  12. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. colț
  13. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. colțul
  14. ^ Breban, Vasile (1980), Dicționar al limbii române contemporane de uz curent, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 108

Related etymologies

  • prea · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • înșela · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • pară · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • somn · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • veste · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • coș · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • lin · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • râs · also from Old Church Slavonic
Cite this entry

“Colț.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/col%C8%9B. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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