coperământ

Forms

coperământ n (plural coperăminte)^[1] MDA2 gives the variant coperimânt;^[2][3] Coresi writes coperemânt and coperimânturi.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cooperīmentum (“a covering”), a noun formed on cooperiō (“to cover”).^[2][1][3][4] Ciorănescu calls it without doubt a direct continuation of the Latin noun.^[5] It sits beside the verb coperi, and DELR records it with the prothetic form acoperământ.^[6]

The noun survives south of the Danube: Aromanian acupirămintu and Megleno-Romanian cupirimint.^[5][6][7] Its Romance cognates include Italian coprimento, Catalan cobriment and Portuguese cobrimento.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 first records it in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581.^[2] There Coresi says that the saints give wool like sheep, a coperemânt “covering” for God and the soul, and he renders the three tabernacles of the Transfiguration as trei coperimânturi, where other versions have “little houses” and the Bible of 1688 has colibi “huts”.^[3] DELR dates the family's form with a- to the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

All its senses grow from “that which covers”: a covering or lid, a tent or hut, a roof and so a house, and figuratively a shelter or protection.^[3][2][8] In religious prose it could also mean the hidden, symbolic sense of a text, a parable or allegory.^[3][2] The word is now obsolete, replaced by acoperământ and, for “roof”, acoperiș.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1581 – coperemânt “covering” and coperimânturi “tents” in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) A covering, wrapping; a lid.^[2][8]
2. (obsolete) A tent or hut.^[2][3]
3. (obsolete) A roof; by extension a house.^[3][8]
4. (obsolete) A shelter, refuge; protection.^[2][8]
5. (obsolete) A hidden, symbolic meaning; a parable.^[2][3]

Related words

• coperi
• acoperământ
• acoperi
• Aromanian acupirămintu

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 503
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. coperemânt
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2204
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. coperi
6. ^ a b c d 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. acoperi
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 15
8. ^ a b c d Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. coperământ