dană

Forms

dană f (plural dane)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek ντάνα (dána, “stack; row”), a word of the ports.^[2][3][4][5] The DLR writes the Greek word δάνα (dána).^[6] According to DELR the Greek word meant “stack” and also “a row of ships moored side by side at the same berth”, and Scriban glossed it “row”.^[2][7]

Ciorănescu, following Hesseling, and DELR take the Greek word from Italian andana (“passage, corridor; ships moored side by side”).^[3][2] Babiniotis also thinks this probable, and considers derivation from tana (“burrow”) less likely;^[8][9] Triantafyllidis's dictionary prefers the latter, with the initial consonant voiced after the article.^[8][9] The Italian word is usually connected with andare (“to go”), which DELR derives either from Latin ambiō (“to go around”), with a northern Italian /d/ for /t/, or from a contraction of ambulō (“to walk”) (after Nocentini); DELI notes that the LEI starts instead from a spoken Latin noun formed on ambitus.^[2][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in the newspaper Universul of 31 December 1933, with the sense “berth”.^[2] The DLR quotes dana a doua “the second berth” from 1937.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the berth itself, the word named a warehouse for goods in a port or at the customs, and a barge or group of barges moored side by side at the same berth, or each barge of a convoy.^[11][5][4] The DLR also has a figurative use, a writer's “berth” in a literary movement.^[6]

Timeline

• 1933 – in the newspaper Universul, the first record.^[2]
• 1937 – dana a doua “the second berth”.^[6]
• 1939 – Scriban defines it as a numbered section of a quay.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A berth: the part of a port along a quay where ships moor and goods are loaded and unloaded.^[4][11][1]
2. A barge or group of barges moored side by side at the same berth.^[4][11]
3. (dated) A warehouse for goods in a port or at the customs.^[11][5]

Usage notes

MDA2 has a second dană that only refers to dam, and lists dană as a regional variant of dam, a folk dance.^[11] The DLR also has a separate headword dană².^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. dană¹
3. ^ 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. dană
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 270
5. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
6. ^ 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. dană¹
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 387
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 598