dezmânta

Forms

a dezmânta (third-person singular present dezmântă, past participle dezmântat), 1st conjugation^[1] Old texts usually write desmânta; regional forms are dezminti and dezminta.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2] The DLR and MDA2 take it as a formation from Romanian dez- + minte (“mind”), an old derivative that may already be Latin, Vulgar Latin *dismentō from mēns (“mind”).^[4][3][2] Tiktin finds that Latin form hardly possible.^[5] Pușcariu and the DLRM derive it from des- and smântă “mistake”, from sminti, which the old spellings with ⟨s⟩ support.^[2][6]

Giuglea proposed Vulgar Latin *dismonitō, from moneō (“to advise”), and the REW accepted it.^[2] Ciorănescu suggests Vulgar Latin *dismantō, from mantō (“to wait”), a frequentative of maneō (“to remain”), with the sense “to discourage”.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is a Bible translation of 1760–1761, which has both dezmânta and desmânta in the sense “to dissuade”.^[2] Molnar's Retorică of 1798 pairs it with urging: „îndemnând sau desmântând” “urging or dissuading”.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb belongs to Transylvania and the Banat: it means talking someone out of a decision or belief.^[4][8] Budai-Deleanu has „Să nu vă dezmânte” “let him not turn you away”, and the historians of the Transylvanian School use it of turning Romanians away from the Church union.^[5][4] MDA2 adds an old sense “to trick”, and for the regional dezminti “to go out of one's mind” and “to come to one's senses”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1760–1761 – dezmânta and desmânta in a Bible translation, the first record.^[2]
• 1765 – in Maior's lexicon.^[5]
• 1798 – desmântând in Molnar's Retorică.^[4][3]
• c. 1800–1812 – in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada.^[5][4]
• 1825 – desmântător “one who dissuades” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, dated and regional, Transylvania) To dissuade someone, to make them change their mind.^[8][1]
2. (transitive, dated) To trick.^[3]

Related words

• minte
• sminti

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. dezmânta
3. ^ 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, 698
4. ^ 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. dezmânta
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dezmânta
6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 241
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. desmânta
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 100