cuscru

Forms

cuscru m (plural cuscri, feminine equivalent cuscră)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōnsocer (“a son's or daughter's father-in-law”), continued in the accusative form cōnsocerum.^[2][3][1] DELR starts from a reshaped *consocrum, made like the feminine *consocra that gave cuscră.^[4] The Latin word is formed from con- and socer (“father-in-law”), the source of socru.^[4][5] Graur pointed out that neither Latin form explains the Romanian word directly: the nominative accounts for the stress on the first syllable but not for its /u/, and the accusative ⟨consòcrum⟩ for the /u/ but not for the stress or the loss of the second vowel; he took ⟨consòcrum⟩ as the starting point.^[6] He also compared Modern Greek συμπέθερος (sympétheros), formed in the same way.^[6]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian cuscru (also cuscur), Megleno-Romanian cuscru and Istro-Romanian cuscru.^[2][4][7][8] Albanian krushk comes from the same Latin word, through a form ⟨*kushkr⟩ with metathesis.^[9] Its Romance cognates include Dalmatian consegro, Italian consuocero, Spanish consuegro and Portuguese consogro.^[4][10] DER notes that the word is used throughout the Romanian-speaking area.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Pravila of Lucaci, a law book of 1581.^[4][11] MDA2 cites the Moldavian Pravila instead, a code that lists marriages „ce să zice den cuscrii... sau cumătrii” “which are called of the co-parents-in-law or of the godparents” among those between relatives.^[3][12] From the start the word named the parents of a husband and of a wife in relation to each other.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

The chronicles use it for alliances between ruling families: Brâncoveanu is said to have made peace with „cuscru-său” “his co-father-in-law”.^[12] The meaning widened in the regions to any relative by marriage, and in Transylvania to the young man who escorts the bride and to wedding guests in general; elsewhere it names a suitor.^[4][3] Around Hațeg the groom's parents are the cuscrii mari “the great co-parents-in-law” and the bride's the cuscrii mici “the small ones”, matching socru mare and socru mic.^[12] A rare old sense “accomplice” is, according to DELR, a calque of compère.^[4] The plant name, for the lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis), is regional.^[2][3]

In Istro-Romanian the word is used for a wedding guest and for a man who escorts the dead at a funeral.^[8] Bulgarian borrowed the Romanian word for a wedding guest of the bride's or the groom's side.^[12][2] Hungarian borrowed it too, as Hungarian kuszkura, first recorded in 1873 for a co-parent-in-law; the sense “secret lover” is recorded in 1893.^[13]

Timeline

• 1581 – cuscru in the Pravila of Lucaci, the first record.^[4][11]
• 1581 – the feminine cuscră in the same law book.^[4]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda gives three senses: a co-father-in-law, a distant relative by marriage and the bride's escort.^[14]
• 1844 – the reflexive verb cuscri “to become co-parents-in-law”.^[4]
• 1873 – Hungarian kuszkura, borrowed from Romanian.^[13]
• 1881 – cuscrenie “relationship by marriage” in Jipescu.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. co-father-in-law: the father of one spouse in relation to the parents of the other; in the plural, the parents of one spouse in relation to those of the other.^[15][3][1]
2. (regional) By extension, a relative by marriage.^[3][2]
3. (regional) A young man who escorts the bride at a wedding; in Transylvania, a wedding guest.^[3][4]
4. (regional) A suitor.^[3][4]
5. (botany, regional) lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis.^[3][2]

Word family

• cuscră
• cuscrenie
• cuscri
• cuscrie
• cuscrișor
• cuscruleț
• încuscri
• cuscret

Related words

• socru
• Aromanian cuscru

Usage notes

The feminine is cuscră, the plural cuscri.^[1][3] MDA2 records the set phrases cuscru mare and cuscru mic for the groom's and the bride's father, and in Transylvania a se duce în cuscri “to go to the wedding”.^[3] Two families are said to be cuscri when their children have married each other.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. cuscru
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 584
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. cuscru
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. cuscru
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 342
8. ^ a b Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
9. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (ed.), Digitales philologisch-etymologisches Wörterbuch des Albanischen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2166
11. ^ 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. cuscru
12. ^ a b c d e 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. cuscru
13. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 684
14. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 159
15. ^ DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 264