dăuna

Forms

dăuna (third-person singular present dăunează, past participle dăunat) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Romanian daună (“damage, loss”), according to Tiktin, the DLR, MDA2, DEX and DN.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Candrea, Philippide and Pușcariu took it instead from Latin damnō (“to harm”), as DELR reports.^[7] Wiktionary allows that it may correspond to the Latin verb.^[1] The noun is itself a learned borrowing of damnum, first recorded in 1816, its ⟨-mn-⟩ turned into ⟨-un-⟩ after inherited words such as scaun.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the verb to 1868;^[5] DELR's first record is Laurian and Massim's dictionary of 1871, and MDA2 quotes the civil code edited by Hamangiu in 1897.^[2][7][4] The adjective dăunător is recorded earlier, from 1852.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant from the start “to cause someone a loss or damage”.^[2][3] The DLR shows it both with a direct object, as in Barițiu and the civil code, and with the dative that is now usual, and in the wider sense “to be harmful or unsuitable”.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1868 – the first record of the verb.^[2]
• 1871 – in Laurian and Massim's dictionary.^[7]
• 1897 – in Hamangiu's edition of the civil code.^[4][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To harm, to cause (someone or something) a loss or damage; to prejudice.^[5][4]
2. (transitive, unusual) To injure, damage.^[3][9]

Word family

• dăunător

Related words

• daună
• Latin damnō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. dăuna
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dăuna
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 607
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 273
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. dăuna
7. ^ a b c d e 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. daună
8. ^ 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. daună
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 20