curaj

Forms

curaj n (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French courage, as DEX, DN and Wiktionary give it, and also borrowed from Italian coraggio, as MDA2, Tiktin and Ciorănescu add.^{[2][3][1][4][5][6]} DELR derives the standard form from French and the variants with ⟨co-⟩, such as coraj, from Italian.^[7] The French word goes back through Old French corage to Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”).^[1][7] The Italian word is itself borrowed from Occitan coratge (“heart, courage”), from the same Vulgar Latin noun.^[8][9]

Ciorănescu dates the borrowing to the 18th century.^[6] He finds that the sense “fury, anger” fits the variant better and compares Spanish coraje.^[6] Aromanian curagiu comes from Italian.^[6][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of 1774 printed in the Uricariul: Luăm curajul a cădea înaintea puternicului tron al Majestății Voastre “We take the courage to fall before the mighty throne of Your Majesty”.^[11][4][5] DELR's first record is the variant coragiu in Ienăchiță Văcărescu's grammar of 1787.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The DA calls it a neologism that reached the popular language and developed new senses there.^[11] Early writers used many forms: curagiu in Șincai, corajie in Țichindeal and curage in Budai-Deleanu.^[11][5] In folk speech coraj came to mean good humour or the boldness of a man who has been drinking.^[7][12][4] In the Țara Oltului it also means a feast or party.^[7][4] Used as an interjection, curaj! urges someone not to give up.^[2][12]

The derivatives followed the French ones: încuraja (1827) after encourager, descuraja (1830) after décourager and curajos (1831) from courageux.^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1774 – curajul in a document of the Uricariul, the first record.^[11][4][5]
• 1787 – coragiu in Văcărescu's grammar.^[7]
• 1805 – the verb curajui “to encourage”.^[7]
• 1827 – încuraja, as încoragia, in Golescu.^[7]
• 1830 – descuraja.^[7]
• 1831 – curajos “brave”.^[7]
• 1870 – descurajator “discouraging” in Alecsandri.^[7]
• 1914 – descurajant.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. courage: the moral strength to face danger and hardship boldly, bravery: A avut curajul să spună adevărul.^[2][1]
2. Firmness of character, resolve: a avea curajul opiniilor sale “to stand by one's opinions”.^[2][4]
3. (popular) The boldness of a man who has been drinking, good humour.^[4][7]
4. (regional, Oltenia) A feast, a party.^[4][7]

Interjection

1. Be brave! Don't give up!^[2][4]

Word family

• curajos
• descuraja
• descurajant
• descurajator
• încuraja
• încurajator

Related words

• French courage
• Italian coraggio

Usage notes

The popular variant coraj is still listed by DEX.^[2] DELR records many old variants, among them coraș, curagiu, corajă and corăjie.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 262
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. curaj
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 577
5. ^ 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. curaj
6. ^ 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. curaj
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. curaj
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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. curaj
12. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 379