cumpli

Forms

cumpli (third-person singular present cumplește, past participle cumplit), 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *complīō (“to finish”), a form of Latin compleō (“to fill up, complete”) moved to the fourth conjugation.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from con- and pleō (“to fill”), a verb found almost only in compounds.^[3][5] The Romance languages have the same verb: Italian compiere, Old French complir, Occitan complir, Catalan complir and Spanish cumplir.^[2][3][6] The Latin past participle complētus was later borrowed as complet.^[7]

The step from “to finish” to “to kill” is a natural one, as Ciorănescu notes; the DA explains the sense through “to bring to an end”.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century.^[3] The 16th-century psalters use it for “to destroy, wipe out”: „Și zise să cumple ei” “and he said he would destroy them” (Coresi, Psalm 105:23), and reflexively for “to perish, come to an end”: „Că hitleanii cumplu-se” “for the wicked shall be cut off” (Psalm 36:9).^[9] MDA2 dates its first record to the Psaltirea Scheiană of about 1573–1578.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the old texts cumpli meant to destroy, to kill, and as a reflexive to come to an end, to vanish or perish.^[3][9] MDA2 also records the sense “to satisfy one's hunger”.^[4] The verb is now obsolete.^[2][4]

Its past participle lives on as the adjective cumplit, which first meant “complete, whole” and then “terrible, cruel”.^[2] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons gloss cumplit with Slavonic words for “fierce, cruel”.^[10] The noun cumplire “end; cruelty; greed” is recorded in the Psaltirea Scheiană, cumpliciune “cruelty” in Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – cumpli and the noun cumplit “end, limit” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first records.^[3]
• c. 1500-1520 – cumplătură “completion, end”, also in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[3]
• c. 1573-1578 – cumplire “end” in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[3][4]
• 1643 – cumpliciune “cruelty” in Varlaam's Cazania.^[3]
• 1691 – încumplit “terrible” in the Mărgăritare.^[3]
• 1847 – cumplitate “excessive stinginess” in Anton Pann.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To destroy, to kill, to exterminate.^[4][2][11]
2. (obsolete, reflexive) To perish, to come to an end, to vanish.^[4][9]
3. (obsolete, transitive) To satisfy one's hunger.^[4]

Word family

• cumplit
• cumpliciune
• cumplitate
• cumplire

Related words

• compliment
• complet
• Latin compleō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. cumpli
3. ^ 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. cumplit
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 572
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2101
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 76
8. ^ 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. cumpli
9. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cumpli
10. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. cumplit
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cumpli