demult

Forms

demult^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Romanian de (“from, of”) + mult (“much, long”), an adverb of time made in Romanian.^[2][3][4][5] DEX and MDA2 take the first part as the preposition (DEX's fourth homograph of ⟨de⟩), while Wiktionary analyses it as the prefix de-.^[2][3][1] MDA2 also records the older spelling ⟨de mult⟩, with a space.^[3] Scriban, Damé and CADE do not give it a headword of its own and treat it under mult.^[6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, at Psalm 88:48 and Psalm 142:5, where it means “long ago, of old”.^[9][10] Tiktin's first date is Coresi's Gospel book of 1561, at Luke 10:13.^[4] MDA2 and the DLR start from Coresi's homily book of 1581: „Aceasta demult au zis sfântul David de Cristos” “this the holy David said long ago about Christ”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is “long ago, a long time before”, which shades into “for a long time”.^[2][11] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons use it to render Slavonic words for “of old” and “ancient”.^[12] Two phrases fixed early: de demult “of old, from former times” and mai demult “formerly, once”.^[3][13] Old texts also used cel mai demult for “the first, the earliest”.^[3]

In the dialects of Muntenia the adverb also means “early”: „ne sculam demult, pe la ora trei, patru” “we got up early, at three or four o'clock”.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – demult at Psalm 88:48 and 142:5 in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[9]
• 1561 – Coresi's Gospel book, Luke 10:13.^[4]
• 1581 – Coresi's homily book, MDA2's first record.^[3][5]
• 1649 – Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon glosses Slavonic words for “of old” with it.^[12]
• 1688 – twelve occurrences in the Bucharest Bible.^[15]

Meanings

Adverb

1. long ago: a long time before, in the distant past.^[2][3][1]
2. For a long time: Îl aștept demult. “I have been waiting for him for a long time.”^[2][11]
3. de demult: of old, from bygone times;^[2][3] mai demult: formerly, once.^[2][3]
4. (regional) early in the day.^[14]
5. (obsolete) cel mai demult: the first, the earliest.^[3]

Related words

• mult

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 288
3. ^ 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, 641
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. demult
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. demult
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 403
7. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. demult
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. demult
9. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 88:48
10. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 142:5
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. demult
12. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. demult
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 48
14. ^ a b Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. s.v. demult
15. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Isaiah 37:26