degeaba

Forms

degeaba (adverb)^[1] MDA2 lists the regional and old variants dâgeaba, deageaba, dejeaba and digeaba.^[2] Anton Pann has degeabă, in rhyme: „Aideți să vorbim degeabă, Că tot n-avem nicio treabă” “Come, let us talk for nothing, since we have nothing to do anyway”.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian de + geaba: the preposition and the adverb meaning “in vain; for nothing”.^[4][3][2][1] The second part is from Ottoman Turkish جابا (caba, “free, gratis”).^[5][1] In Turkish the word, now Turkish caba, means something obtained without payment.^[6]

Ciorănescu compares Modern Greek τζάμπα (tzámpa) and notes that the plain adverb also exists in Aromanian, as geaba.^[5][7] He adds that the simple form is now used mostly in this compound, and that it is a doublet of Transylvanian heba “in vain”, from Hungarian hiába.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in a text of I. Văcărescu of 1793;^[8][2] MDA2 has it before 1816, in a document published by Iorga.^[8][2] Both main senses, “for nothing, free” and “in vain”, are there from the start.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The two senses have run side by side: “without payment”, often with the preposition pe (pe degeaba), and “in vain, to no purpose”.^[9][2] From “to no purpose” comes “without reason”, and with verbs of staying it means “idle”: a sta degeaba “to sit idle”.^[2] Proverbs use it often: Tiktin quotes Orbului degeaba i se face ziuă “day breaks in vain for the blind man”.^[8] MDA2 also records degeaba că “even though” in regional speech, and a regional noun naming a disease of sheep.^[2]

Timeline

• 1793 – first record, in a text of I. Văcărescu.^[8]
• before 1816 – in a document published by Iorga, MDA2's first record.^[2]
• 1821 – the simple geaba in Alecu Beldiman's Tragedia.^[10]
• 1875 – Antonescu's dictionary glosses it “gratis; en vain”.^[11]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In vain, to no purpose, uselessly.^[4][2][1]
2. For nothing, without payment, gratis; also pe degeaba.^[4][9]
3. Without reason.^[2]

Related words

• geaba
• heba
• zadarnic

Usage notes

Common phrases: a sta degeaba “to sit idle”, a mânca pâine degeaba “not to earn one's keep”, a-și răci gura degeaba “to waste one's breath”.^[2] Synonyms are în zadar, în van and de pomană.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 629
3. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. degeaba
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 283
5. ^ a b c 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. geaba
6. ^ Eren, Hasan (1999), Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü, Ankara: Bizim Büro, p. 66
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 489
8. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. degeaba
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 39
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 980
11. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 70