decurge

Forms

decurge (third-person singular present decurge, past participle decurs, third-person subjunctive decurgă), 3rd conjugation^[1] The 19th-century variant decure is recorded from 1813.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian de- + curge, calqued from French découler (“to trickle down; to result from”).^{[2][3][1][4][5]} The French verb is made of dé- and couler (“to flow”), from Latin cōlō (“to filter, strain”), itself from cōlum (“strainer”).^[2] Romanian curge comes from currō (“to run”).^[2] The neologism dictionaries add Italian decorrere as a second model.^[6]

The early variant decure is a separate adaptation: the DLR derives it from Latin dēcurrō (“to run down”), following an article by Constantin Lacea in the journal Dacoromania (1920–1921).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the verb to 1812, with the senses “to come from, to derive from”.^[4] DELR's first record is the variant decure in a text by Maior of 1813.^[2] The DLR's oldest quotation, from a veterinary Învățătură, speaks of how a cattle disease runs its course: „cu cât mai cu primejdie decură această boală” “the more dangerously this disease proceeds”.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb had from the start the two senses of French découler: “to unfold, to take a certain course” and “to follow logically from”.^[2][7] In the 19th century it could also be said of time passing, a sense now obsolete.^[2][3] Șăineanu treated the “result from” use as figurative, modelled on French.^[8] MDA2 records a regional sense said of hair: to fall loose down the back.^[3] The noun decurs “course, duration” (1832) belongs to the same family.^[2]

Timeline

• 1812 – the first record Tiktin gives, “to derive from”.^[4]
• 1813 – the variant decure in a text by Maior.^[2]
• 1832 – the noun decurs “course, period of time”.^[2]
• 1893 – glossed French découler in Damé's dictionary.^[9]
• 1898 – the adjective decursiv “following, later”.^[2]
• 1920–1921 – Lacea's article Decurrere in Dacoromania.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, with din) To result or follow from something; to have its source in.^[5][1][10]
2. (intransitive) To take place, to unfold or proceed in a certain way: Ședința a decurs fără incidente. “The meeting went off without incident.”^[5][3]
3. (intransitive, rare) Of time, to pass.^[3][2]
4. (regional) Of hair, to hang loose down the back.^[3]

Word family

• decurs
• decursiv

Related words

• curge
• rezulta

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. decurge
3. ^ 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, 622
4. ^ 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. decurge
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 280
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. decurge
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 194
9. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 1
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional