descălța

Forms

a descălța (third-person singular present descalță, past participle descălțat; 1st conjugation)^[1]

Etymology

DER, MDA2 and DEX take it as inherited from Late Latin discalceō (“to take off shoes”), from dis- and calceō (“to shoe”), or from the parallel disculceō;^[2][3][4][1] DER notes that both are attested.^[2][3][4][1] Densusianu, Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and Scriban also derive it from Latin.^[2][5] It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian discaltsu.^[2][6][7] DER compares Italian discalzare, French déchausser, Spanish descalzar, Portuguese descalçar, Catalan descalçar and Occitan descaussar.^[2]

DELR thinks it was probably formed in Romanian on încălța, with the prefix changed, because the old language used another inherited verb for this, desculța; that makes a second Latin heir of the same family less likely.^[5] Tiktin also says that the form ⟨descălța⟩ does not seem to occur in the old language and was modelled on that verb.^[8] That older verb continues the second Latin form (some take it from the adjective desculț “barefoot”); it survives as Aromanian disculțari and, with the prefix regularly replaced, Istro-Romanian rescuțå.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, a Romanian–Latin glossary of c. 1650–1700.^[3] Tiktin's earliest record is the Palia de la Orăștie (1581–1582), at Exodus 3:5, where God tells Moses to take off his shoes; the old texts there have the form desculța.^[8][9] DELR has descălța itself only from Pontbriant's dictionary of 1862.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The verb has kept one meaning, “to take off someone's shoes” or, in the reflexive, “to take off one's shoes”.^[4][10] The older desculța survives in Transylvania, where MDA2 also records it of singeing a pig's hooves so that they come off easily.^[11] Aromanian discaltsu also means “to unshoe a horse”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1581–1582 – the older verb desculța in the Palia de la Orăștie.^[9][8]
• c. 1650–1700 – descălța in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[3]
• 1862 – descălța and descălțătoare “bootjack” in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[5]
• 1910 – descălțat “taking off one's shoes”.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive and transitive) To take off one's own or someone's shoes or boots: s-a descălțat la ușă “he took his shoes off at the door”.^[4][3][1]

Word family

• descălțat
• descălțătoare
• descălțare

Related words

• desculț
• desculța
• încălța
• Aromanian discaltsu

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. descălța
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 653
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 295
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. descălța
6. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 393
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 397
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. descălța
9. ^ a b c 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. desculț
10. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. descălța
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 659