cuib

Forms

cuib n (plural cuiburi)^[1] The older form cuiub is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki and often in the Bucharest Bible of 1688.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[5][2] The usual view, followed by DELR, DEX, MDA2 and the DA, is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cubium (“resting place”), formed on cubō (“to lie down”) like concubium; it is supported by North Italian dialect words for “lair”.^{[2][6][4][7][8]} Ciorănescu rejects it, since “lying down” suits birds poorly, and prefers Ancient Greek κλωβός (klōbós, “cage”) through Vulgar Latin *clubium with a double metathesis; the related Modern Greek κουλβί (koulví) is the source, through Slavonic, of colivie.^[5] Wiktionary follows the Greek line, from κλυβίον (klubíon).^[1] DELR finds that view hard, as it needs a metathesis ⟨lbi̯⟩ > ⟨l'b⟩ that has no parallel.^[2]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian cuib, Megleno-Romanian cuib or cul'b, and Istro-Romanian cul'b.^[2][5][9] The DA explains the ⟨l'b⟩ of the southern and Istrian forms as a metathesis of ⟨*cubl'u⟩.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is cuiub in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (early 16th century), for a bird's nest.^[2] The Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578) has it in the verse about the swallow that finds a nest for itself.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

From the bird's nest the word spread to the lair of animals, then figuratively to a home, a native place and a hiding place of thieves or plotters.^[6][4][3] The chroniclers already use cuib de tâlhari for a den of robbers.^[3] Farming gave the small hole in which several seeds are sown together and the mound of earth piled round plants, and in Moldavia the word names the ferment that sours wine, borș or milk.^[6][2] The Bible of 1688 uses it for the socket of a pillar.^[3] DELR dates the derivatives cuibar 1787 and cuiba 1828.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – cuiub “nest” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[2]
• c. 1573–1578 – cuib in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[4][7]
• 1688 – cuiub for the socket of a pillar in the Bucharest Bible.^[3]
• 1787 – cuibar “nest egg; nest”.^[2]
• 1825 – cuibări “to nest”.^[2]
• 1828 – cuiba “to make a nest”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nest built by birds or some mammals to lay eggs, brood and raise their young.^[6][1]
2. (figurative) A home, a dwelling: a-și face cuib “to settle down”.^[6][4]
3. (figurative, pejorative) A hidden place where a hostile action is planned; a hotbed: un cuib de tâlhari.^[6]
4. cuibul albinelor: the combs where a bee colony keeps its brood and food.^[6]
5. A small hole in which seeds are sown; a mound of earth heaped round a plant; a patch where plants of one kind grow together: un cuib de lăcrimioare.^[6]
6. A mass of ferment that sours wine, borș or milk.^[6]
7. A sheltered emplacement for an automatic weapon;^[6] cuibul corbului “crow's nest” on a ship.^[6]

Word family

• cuiba
• cuibar
• cuibări
• cuibușor
• încuiba
• descuiba

Related words

• Aromanian cuib
• Latin cubō

References

1. ^ a b c 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” (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. cuib
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cuib
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 565
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. cuib
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 257
7. ^ a b c d 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. cuib
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2355
9. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 72