descuia

Forms

a descuia (third-person singular present descuie, past participle descuiat, third-person subjunctive descuie; 1st conjugation)^[1]

Etymology

DELR and DEX take it as inherited from Latin discuneō, a verb attested in Latin only in its participle discuneātus, from dis- and cuneō (“to split or wedge with a wedge”), from cuneus (“wedge; nail”).^[2][3][1] Densusianu, Pușcariu and Candrea and Densusianu give the same etymon.^[2][4] The Romance parallels are a Tyrolean dialect verb and Old French descoignier, and DER adds Sardinian diskundzare.^[2][4]

DER says it could equally have been formed in Romanian on încuia, as deschide was on închide; the DLR derives it from ⟨încuia⟩, and Tiktin from cui in the sense “key”.^[4][2][5] MDA2 gives both views.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Slavonic–Romanian Gospel of 1551–1553, at Matthew 25:11, where the foolish virgins ask the Lord to open to them.^[2][5] MDA2 dates it from Varlaam's Cazania of 1643, which says that as Adam's sin locked paradise, baptism unlocks it.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

MDA2 records as the oldest sense “to open a locked door with a wooden peg”, and the usual sense is “to open with a key”.^[6] Tiktin and the DA explain the sense of încuia “to lock” by the old custom of locking with pegs;^[4] DER thinks rather that Latin cuneus “nail” came to mean “key” too, as clāvus beside clāvis.^[4] In folk medicine the verb also means “to relieve constipation or retention of urine”, the opposite of încuia “to constipate”.^[2][6][4] Descuietoare, recorded about 1650, named a bolt, a key, and a plant probably used against constipation.^[2]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – the Slavonic–Romanian Gospel, the first record.^[2][5]
• 1643 – Varlaam's Cazania.^[6]
• c. 1650 – descuńetoare and descuńetură in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[2]
• 1907 – descuiat “unlocking”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To unlock, to open a door, gate, lock or chest with a key: a descuiat ușa “she unlocked the door”.^[3][6][1]
2. (regional, dated) To open a locked door with a wooden peg.^[6]
3. (popular) To relieve someone of constipation or retention of urine.^[2][6]

Word family

• descuiat
• descuietură
• descuietoare

Related words

• încuia
• cui

References

1. ^ a b c 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” (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. descuia
3. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 297
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. încuia
5. ^ 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. descuia
6. ^ 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, 659
7. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. descuia