creion

Forms

creion n (plural creioane)^[1] An older form crăion is recorded by Tiktin and the DELR.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French crayon, a 19th-century loan.^{[3][4][5][2][1]} The French word is formed on craie (“chalk”), from Latin crēta (“chalk, white clay”), so the Romanian word is related to cretă.^[3][1] The origin of the Latin word is uncertain: it may come from the phrase terra crēta (“sifted earth”), or be related to a Celtic form.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to about 1830, with the sense “graphite stick for writing and drawing”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a stick of graphite, usually in a casing of wood, for writing and drawing;^[3][7] Costinescu in 1870 still explained it as a “lead pen”.^[3][7] By analogy it named sticks of coloured clay and, as cosmetics and medicine came in stick form, an eye pencil or a stick of silver nitrate.^[3][8] It also came to mean a drawing done in pencil and, figuratively, a writer's manner or skill.^[5] The computer age added creion luminos or creion optic, a light pen.^[5][9] The verb creiona “to sketch in pencil”, from French crayonner, is recorded from 1870.^[3] In slang creion means a cigarette.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1830 – first record, creion “pencil”.^[3][2]
• 1870 – creiona “to draw in pencil” in Costinescu.^[3]
• 1917 – creionaj “pencil drawing” in Arghezi.^[3]
• 1926 – the diminutive creionaș in Teodoreanu.^[3]
• 1966 – portcreion “pencil holder” and creionist “pencil artist” in the DN.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pencil: a writing or drawing tool made of a black or coloured lead in a casing, usually of wood; also a stick of coloured clay for drawing.^[5][11][1]
2. A drawing done in pencil.^[5]
3. (figurative) A manner of writing; the ease of writing or composing.^[5]
4. A stick of a cosmetic or medicinal substance, such as an eye pencil.^[5][3]
5. creion luminos or creion optic: a light pen for entering data into a computer.^[5][9]
6. (slang) A cigarette.^[10]

Word family

• creiona
• creionaj
• creionaș
• creionist
• portcreion

Related words

• cretă

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. creion
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. creion
4. ^ 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. creion
5. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 247
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
9. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 544