creier

Forms

creier m (plural creieri)^[1] The old form was crier, which is the more common one in old Daco-Romanian texts and is recorded before creier.^[2] Regional forms include Moldavian crier, Transylvanian crer, Banat criel and plural-only forms such as clei and cleeri.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin, but the sound changes are irregular and not fully explained.^[2][4] Most sources take it as inherited from Latin cerebrum (“brain”) through a shortened *crebrum.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} DELR explains ⟨creier⟩ from an earlier ⟨*creur⟩ by assimilation, as in treier from trībulō.^[2] Others start from the diminutive cerebellum through ⟨*crebellum⟩: Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, Tiktin, CADE and DEX.^[2][4][7][3] That would explain the forms in ⟨l⟩ such as ⟨criel⟩, from which ⟨crier⟩ came by a shift of stress and assimilation of the ⟨l⟩.^[2] Ciorănescu finds both solutions possible but phonetically difficult.^[4] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-, the root of words for "head" and "horn".^[8][1]

Graur held that ⟨ee⟩ arose between the two ⟨r⟩ sounds, as in greier and prooroc.^[4] DELR objects that ⟨-ebr-⟩ does not regularly give ⟨-er-⟩, compare ciur from crībrum.^[2] Zamfir and Răuțu proposed a metathesis to ⟨*creberum⟩ and then ⟨*criberum⟩ in 2020, which DELR finds problematic.^[2] Older comparisons with Hasdeu's proposals or with Albanian krielj (Barić) are no longer followed.^[4]

The word survives in Aromanian crier (also criel) and Megleno-Romanian criel, the latter meaning "mind, thought".^[4][2][9] The Romance words come from ⟨cerebellum⟩: Italian cervello, French cerveau, Occitan cervel and Catalan cervell.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR, MDA2 and Tiktin date the first record to 1581, in Coresi's book of sermons, in the form crier.^[2][5][3] Tiktin notes that the word was used mostly, and at first probably only, in the plural.^[3] Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints tell of a man struck on the head so that „i-au vărsat crierii” “his brains spilled out”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense "mind, intelligence, judgement" developed beside the anatomical one, as in Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian, where it is the main sense.^[2][9] A person who organizes and leads an action is also its creier, a neuter noun in this sense.^[2][7] Creierii munților are the highest and least accessible parts of the mountains, and creierii codrilor the depths of the forest.^[3][5] Scriban explains the phrase by bare rock above the trees, which looks like the skull of the mountain.^[10] Ciorănescu thinks this sense looks like folk etymology.^[4]

In Bihor the creier is the thick part of a wheel hub into which the spokes are fitted.^[3][2] In Muntenia it is the top comb of a beehive.^[11] Scriban takes a-și zbura creierii "to blow one's brains out" from French se brûler la cervelle.^[10] DELR derives descreierat "brainless, reckless" after French écervelé.^[2]

Timeline

• 1581 – crier in Coresi's book of sermons, the first record.^[2][5][3]
• 1688 – creierii in the Bucharest Bible.^[12]
• 1825 – the diminutive crerișori in the Lexicon of Buda.^[2]
• 1858 – descreierat “brainless” and descreiera in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[2]
• 1886 – creierași “cerebellum” in Barcianu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1938 – creieruș “cerebellum” in the DA.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The brain: the main part of the central nervous system of vertebrates, in the skull, the organ of thought and consciousness.^[7][5][1]
2. (figurative; neuter, plural creiere) Mind, intelligence, judgement, and the person who plans and leads an action: El a fost creierul operațiunii.^[7][2][1]
3. (in the phrase creierii munților) The highest, least accessible parts of the mountains.^[7][5][1]
4. (regional, Bihor) The thick part of a wheel hub.^[2][3]

Word family

• creierișor
• creieruș
• descreierat

Related words

• cerebel
• Aromanian crier
• Latin cerebrum

Usage notes

Creierul mic is the cerebellum and creierul mare the cerebrum.^[7] A-și frământa creierii means “to rack one's brains”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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. creier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. créier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. creier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 544
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1827
7. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 247
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 81
10. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 362
11. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. 110
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Dan 4:33