dărâna

Forms

dărâna (third-person singular present dărână, past participle dărânat) 1st conjugation^[1] The first person of the present is dărân.^[2] In the 1953–1993 spelling it was written dărîna.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dērēnō (“to break the loins”), a verb not recorded in writing, formed on Latin rēnēs (“kidneys, loins”) in the way that dēlumbō (“to break the back, exhaust”) was formed on lumbus (“loin”).^[3][4][5] Philippide proposed it, and DA, CADE, Scriban and Ciorănescu accept it.^[3] DER and Wiktionary give the reconstruction as *dĕrenēre, of the second conjugation.^[5][1] The same formation is behind Italian direnare, recorded from the first half of the 15th century, and Spanish derrengar.^[3][6][7] DLR calls the word of unknown origin.^[2]

DELR compares the Aromanian reflexive verb dir(i)náre “to wear oneself out, be tormented”, which Papahagi derived instead from Latin dēlīrō.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Revista critică-literară of 1895, from southern Transylvania: „L-a bătut de l-a dărânat” “he beat him until he broke his back”.^[3][4][2] The adjective dărânat is older, in the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 as derănat “bad; stubborn”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb is regional, from Transylvania and the Banat.^[5][8] In the Hațeg area it was recorded for “to break the back, to cripple”.^[9] Elsewhere it means “to tire out, exhaust”.^[5][10] The adjective dărânat moved from the body to character: “decrepit, wretched, weak”, of children “naughty, ill-bred”, and also “corrupt, debauched” and “boorish”.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1895 – the verb in the Revista critică-literară, the first record.^[3][4]
• 1915 – dărîna “to break the back, cripple” in Densusianu's glossary of Hațeg.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, regional) To break someone's back, especially in a beating.^[2][3]
2. (regional) To tire out, exhaust, wear out.^[5][1][10]

Word family

• dărânat

Related words

• Latin rēnēs

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dărâna
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. dărâna
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. dărâna
5. ^ 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. dărâna
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2581
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. dărâna
9. ^ a b Densusianu, Ovid (1915), Graiul din Țara Hațegului, București: Socec, p. 314
10. ^ a b Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. dărâna