cui

Forms

cui n (plural cuie)^[1] Banat has the variant cuń.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cuneus (“wedge”), a word continued throughout Romance.^{[2][4][5][6][3][1]} The REW, Pușcariu, and Candrea and Densusianu give the same source.^[4][7][8] The origin of the Latin word is unclear: a link with culex (“gnat”) meets a problem of vowel length, and De Vaan finds a loan from Ancient Greek γώνιος (gṓnios, “angular”) through Etruscan unconvincing.^[9][1]

The word survives in Istria: Istro-Romanian cuñu.^[2][4][10] Wiktionary takes Aromanian cunj from the same Latin word, perhaps through another language.^[1] Albanian kunj is a loan from the same Latin word.^[11][4] The Romance cognates include Italian cogno, French coin, Occitan cunh, Catalan cuny, Spanish cuño and Portuguese cunho.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the place name Kunj of 1341.^[2][3] As a common noun it is first attested in 1508.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Latin wedge survives in Maramureș, where cui is a wedge for splitting logs.^[5][2] Elsewhere the word came to mean the nail of wood or metal driven into wood or a wall, also used as a peg to hang things on.^[6][2] In Teleorman it also names a wooden bolt and a sharp stabbing pain.^[2]

Regional senses include a small glass of brandy in Maramureș, which Ștef links to the saying cui pe cui se scoate, and a children's colic in Muntenia.^[12][13][14] In slang it names a joint or a hypodermic needle.^[15] Derivatives are dated from the 17th century: cuńișor “small nail; clove” about 1650, and cuier “nail maker” in Corbea's dictionary (1691–1697).^[2]

Timeline

• 1341 – the place name Kunj, the first record.^[2][3]
• 1508 – first record as a common noun.^[2]
• c. 1650 – cuńișor “small nail; clove”.^[2]
• 1688 – the plural cuie in the Bucharest Bible.^[16]
• 1691-1697 – cuier “nail maker” in Corbea's dictionary.^[2]
• 1780-1801 – cuier “coat rack” in Micu's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nail: a pointed pin of metal or wood with a flat head, driven in to join pieces or to hang things on.^[6][1]
2. A simple wall peg for hanging clothes.^[6]
3. Any of various pin-shaped parts of machines and tools;^[6][5] cui spintecat is a split pin.^[6][5]
4. (regional) A wedge for splitting wood.^[5][2]
5. (slang) A joint of marijuana.^[15][1]

Word family

• cuia
• cuier
• cuișoară
• cuișor
• cuiuț

Related words

• încuia
• descuia
• Latin cuneus

Usage notes

Common sayings: cui pe cui se scoate “one nail drives out another”, a new trouble makes one forget the old;^[6][3] a-și pune pofta în cui “to hang one's desire on a nail”, to give up a wish;^[6][3] cuiul lui Pepelea, a pretext someone keeps in order to bother another.^[6][3] The pronoun cui “to whom, whose” is the dative and genitive of cine.^[17][18]

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 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. cui
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cui
4. ^ a b c d e 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. cui
5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 565
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 256
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2396
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 426
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366
11. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (ed.), Digitales philologisch-etymologisches Wörterbuch des Albanischen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
12. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1925), Graiul și folklorul Maramureșului, București: Cultura Națională, p. 217
13. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2011), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din Maramureș, Baia Mare: Ethnologica, p. s.v. cui
14. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. s.v. cui
15. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. cui
16. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Josh 23:13
17. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cui
18. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 66