dansa

Forms

dansa (third-person singular present dansează, past participle dansat) 1st conjugation^[1] In the 19th century the verb was often danța, with the ⟨ț⟩ of the older noun danț: Codru-Drăgușanu writes „la un bal de curte danța cu regina Angliei” “at a court ball he danced with the Queen of England”.^[2][3] Danța is still a popular variant, and an older dănța also occurs.^[4][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French danser (“to dance”).^{[4][5][6][3][1]} The variant danța took its ⟨ț⟩ from the older noun danț, according to DELR; the DLR explains it by German tanzen.^[3][2]

DHLF thinks a Germanic origin of the French verb probable but finds none of the proposed Frankish sources free of difficulties;^[7][1] Wiktionary takes it through Old French dancier from Vulgar Latin *dantiō.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to 1839, and the DA/DLR quotes it from a source it cites as CR (1839), in the form danță “dances”.^[5][2] DELR's first date is 1853, for danța in Baronzi, and Tiktin's is 1859, in Codru-Drăgușanu.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

Tiktin notes that the popular word is juca, and the older dănțui, formed on danț, is recorded from 1643.^[8][3] Șăineanu in 1929 still defined dansa by dănțui.^[9]

Transitive uses followed: to dance a waltz, and to dance with a partner (a dansat toate fetele).^[4][5] Figuratively it is said of things that move in light leaps, such as flakes or leaves, and of a restless person.^[4][10]

Timeline

• 1839 – danță “dances” in CR (1839), the first record.^[5][2]
• 1845 – dansator “dancer” in Alecsandri.^[3]
• 1853 – danța in Baronzi.^[3]
• 1854 – dansant, from French dansant.^[3]
• 1859 – dansa in Codru-Drăgușanu.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To dance to music.^[4][5][1]
2. (transitive) To dance a particular dance: a dansa un tango.^[4][10]
3. (transitive) To dance with someone; to ask someone to dance.^[4][5]
4. (figurative) To move in light leaps, as if dancing; to be restless.^[4][5]
5. (colloquial) To know how to dance.^[5][10]

Word family

• dansator
• dansatoare

Related words

• dans
• dansant
• dănțui
• juca
• French danser

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. dansa
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. dans
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 270
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 598
6. ^ 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. dans
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. danser
8. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dansa
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 190
10. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. dansa