copilărie

Forms

copilărie f (plural copilării)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian copil + -ărie.^[2][3][1] DELR lists it in the family of its base, and Tiktin also derives it from that word.^[4][5] The base word itself is of unknown origin;^[6][3] Ciorănescu notes that it spread from Romanian to the other Balkan languages, and MDA2 compares Albanian kopil.^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1635, in a document published in Documenta Romaniae Historica.^[4] Tiktin's first record is Neagoe's Teachings, dated 1654.^[5] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 uses it seven times, for example in Genesis.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is the time of life from birth to adolescence.^[2] Cantemir lists it among the ages of man: „prunciia, copilăriia, cătărigiia, voiniciia, bărbățiia, căruntețele și bătrânețele” “infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, maturity, grey hair and old age”.^[5] Anton Pann's proverb „Omul în copilărie Lesne-nvață orice fie” says that a man learns anything easily in childhood.^[5] A childish act or idea, and naivety, are recorded as well, usually in the plural.^[5][8] Figuratively it means the beginning of something, as in copilăria artei “the infancy of art”.^[3][9] An old phrase copilărie din casă named the office of a page, a copil de casă.^[3] Of old people, a cădea în copilărie means to become senile.^[3]

Timeline

• 1635 – first record, in a charter.^[4]
• 1648 – the adjective copilăresc “childish”, in Năsturel.^[4]
• 1654 – in Neagoe's Teachings.^[5]
• 1686 – the verb copilări “to spend one's childhood”, in Dosoftei.^[4]
• 1688 – seven times in the Bucharest Bible.^[7]
• c. 1705 – the abstract noun copilărit, in T. Corbea.^[4]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary glosses it with Latin puerilitas and German Kindheit.^[10]
• 1837 – the adjective copilăros “childlike”, in Pann.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. childhood: the time of life from birth to adolescence.^[2][3]
2. (figurative) The beginning or early stage of something.^[2][3]
3. A childish act, word or habit; naivety.^[2][3]

Related words

• copil
• copilări
• copilăresc
• copilăros

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 234
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 504
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. copil
5. ^ 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. copilărie
6. ^ a b 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. copil
7. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 46:34
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 346
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 166
10. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 340