desert

Forms

desert n (plural deserturi)^[1] DELR records the old, rare variants deser and deșert.^[2] A periodical of 1832 writes „acest vin ce se bea obișnuit la deser” “this wine that is usually drunk at dessert”.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French dessert.^{[2][4][5][3][1]} The French word first meant clearing the table, and comes from desservir (“to clear the table”), from servir (“to serve”), from Latin serviō, from servus (“slave”).^[2][6] Graur lists it with the other Romanian words of the same Latin family, among them servi and deservi.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1832, in a periodical cited as AR, with the sense “the last course of a meal”.^[2] The DLR quotes that passage, which speaks of a wine drunk la deser, at dessert.^[3] MDA2's first record, from Cezar Petrescu's novel Întunecare of 1928, is much later.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the French senses: the sweet course of fruit, cakes or cheese that ends a meal, and the moment of the meal when it is served.^[2][4][5] The DLR quotes Asachi for a dessert of fruit, sweetmeats and honey cakes at the end of a feast, and a manual of health of the same period for dessert wines.^[3] Scriban notes that some people also eat cheese at dessert.^[6]

Timeline

• 1832 – first record, la deser “at dessert”, in a periodical.^[2][3]
• 1928 – desert in Cezar Petrescu's Întunecare.^[5][3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu gives it with the French dessert.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. dessert: the course of sweets, fruit or cheese served at the end of a meal.^[4][5]
2. The part of a meal when this course is served.^[4][5]

Related words

• servi
• deservi
• French dessert

Usage notes

The plural is deserturi.^[4] Another word spelled desert in the 19th century, “wilderness, a large empty land”, is in Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 as a foreign word, also written dezert.^[9] Old dictionaries also print the inherited adjective deșert “empty, vain” as desert or desertu.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. desert
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. desert
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 298
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 660
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 410
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 91
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 202
9. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 317
10. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 77
11. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 180