dărăpăna

Forms

dărăpăna (third-person singular present dărapănă, past participle dărăpănat) 1st conjugation^[1] Old variants are dărăpâna, dârăpăna and derăpăna;^[2][3] Dosoftei writes drăpăna.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2] The most widely held view, in DELR, DEX 1998 and Wiktionary, is that it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dērapinō (“to tear off, pull down”), a verb not recorded in writing, built on Latin rapiō (“to seize, snatch”).^[2][4][1] Philippide and the REW start from rapīna (“plunder”);^[2][3] Pușcariu, Tiktin, CADE and Scriban from *dērapiō, for dēripiō (“to tear off”), with a suffix ⟨-in-⟩ that is hard to explain, though it is also found in tărăgăna and îngreuna.^[2][3] Candrea proposed *dīripinō, which DELR finds unlikely because no forms with ⟨-ea-⟩ in the second syllable occur.^[2]

Several other sources have been proposed.^[2] DA derives it from a Bulgarian verb meaning “to pull (by the hair), tear”, which Tiktin rejects;^[2][3][5][6] DLR and DEX 2009 take it from Bulgarian драпам (drapam, “to comb, scratch”).^[2][3][5][6] Bogrea compared Modern Greek δρεπανίζω (drepanízo, “to mow”).^[3][2] Ciorănescu derived it from Latin dēruncinō (“to plane off, level”), through a form with /kʷ/ > /p/, the nasal lost under the influence of rūpēs (“cliff”).^[7] Frățilă explained the sense “to tear out the hair” by confusion with dăpăra, and the sense “to ruin” from a Latin derivative of rīpa (“bank”), which DELR finds problematic in form.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Romanian translation of the Teachings of Neagoe Basarab, dated 1654.^[2][3] Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints has drăpăna “to scratch, tear”, of the martyr Ammon: „și-l drăpănară preste coaste cu chiapteni” “and they tore him over the ribs with combs”.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The old and popular senses are physical: to tear out one's hair, to pluck feathers or strip leaves, to scratch and lacerate.^[8][9] DER notes that these early senses, forgotten in the written language, make the meaning hard to trace.^[7] The sense now usual, “to ruin, to fall into ruin”, was already present at the start of the 18th century, when the affairs of the country were said to be „stricate și dărăpănate” “spoiled and ruined” by others.^[8] In the 19th century it was used of buildings, cities and forests, and figuratively of a person's health or fortune.^[8][10] The past participle dărăpănat means “dilapidated”, and regionally “ragged”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1654 – in the Teachings of Neagoe Basarab, the first record.^[2][3]
• 1682–1686 – drăpăna “to tear, scratch” in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints.^[3][8]
• early 18th century – dărăpănate “ruined”, of the affairs of the country.^[8]
• 1829 – dărăpănător “ruinous, destructive”.^[2]
• 1834 – dărăpănătură “ruin” in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive, third person) To fall into ruin, decay; by extension, to collapse.^[5][11]
2. (transitive, figurative) To ruin someone or something.^[8][10]
3. (transitive, regional) To tear out one's hair, from grief or despair.^[5][8]
4. (transitive, regional) To pluck feathers or strip leaves.^[8]

Word family

• dărăpănător
• dărăpănătură

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. dărăpăna
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dărăpăna
4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 261
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 272
6. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 421
7. ^ a b 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. dărăpăna
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dărăpăna
9. ^ a b 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. dărăpăna
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. dărăpăna
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 17