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deranj

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word deranj

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1885 Caragiale More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Frankish *hring
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French rang
German Rang
Romanian rang
French ranger
French déranger
English derange
Romanian deranja
Romanian deranj
From the same root
French arranger ← ranger

Forms

deranj n (plural deranjuri)[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Romanian deranja (“to disturb”), a noun made from the verb without a suffix.[2][3][4][5][6][1] Ciorănescu compares dejun, made in the same way beside French déjeuner.[7] The verb, recorded from about 1832, comes from French déranger, formed on ranger (“to arrange”), from rang (“row, rank”), which DELR, after the TLFi, traces to Frankish *hring (“circle, ring”).[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the noun to 1885, in Caragiale, where it means “disorder”: a character has to find something, „fiindcă acuma e un deranj la noi” “because things are in a mess at our place just now”.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Caragiale already uses it figuratively for the trouble one causes others, in „nu voim să facem deranj” “we don't want to put you out”.[3][9] The CADE of 1931 still treats it as a synonym of the older deranjament.[10] The DLR records two rarer senses: an upset stomach, deranj la stomac, and the trouble or effort something takes.[3]

Timeline

  • 1885 – deranj “disorder”, in Caragiale, the first record.[5]
  • 1899 – the adjective deranjant “disturbing”.[5]
  • 1931 – the CADE lists it as a synonym of deranjament.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. disorder, mess.[2][4]
  2. (figurative) A disturbance of someone's peace; inconvenience, bother: Nu e niciun deranj, te ajut cu plăcere.[2][4][1]
  3. (rare) A stomach upset.[3]

Usage notes

The plural is deranjuri.[2] In polite formulas nu e niciun deranj means “it's no trouble at all”.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 293
  3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. deranj
  4. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 649
  5. ^ a b c d e 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. deranja
  6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. deranj
  7. ^ 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. deranja
  8. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. deranja
  9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 57
  10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. deranj
Cite this entry

“Deranj.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/deranj. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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