dobitoc

Forms

dobitoc n (plural dobitoace)^[1] As a term of abuse the word is masculine, plural dobitoci, with a feminine dobitoacă.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic добытъкъ (dobytŭkŭ, “property, gain”).^{[4][2][5][6][1]} DELR calls it a Common Slavic word that first meant “possession, gain”, from добыти (dobyti, “to obtain”) (first person добѫдѫ (dobǫdǫ)), formed with the prefix до- (do-), marking the reaching of a place or state, on быти (byti, “to be, become”).^[4] Wiktionary analyses it as Proto-Slavic *dobytъ with the suffix *-ъkъ, from *dobyti.^[1]

The same word means “livestock” in Bulgarian добитък (dobităk) and Polish dobytek, but “gain, profit” in Serbo-Croatian dobitak.^[7][5] Ciorănescu compares the shift from property to cattle with Latin pecūnia (“money, property”) and Spanish ganado (“livestock”); Șăineanu explains it by the herds that were the wealth of pastoral peoples.^[5][8] The verb dobândi goes back to the same Slavonic verb.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to Coresi's Tetraevanghel of 1560–1561, at John 4:12, where Jacob's well watered his children and his cattle.^[4][9] The sense was “domestic animal, beast”; a Gospel text of Coresi has the Samaritan set the wounded man „pre al lui dobitoc” “on his own beast”.^[10] MDA2's first record is the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the singular could be collective, “livestock”: a document of 1588 speaks of horses, carts and all the cattle, and Nicolae Costin of raiders who carried off mult dobitoc de vite și oi “many head of cattle and sheep”.^[10][9] DELR glosses the old sense as wealth in cattle.^[4] Cantemir called the constellations named after animals dobitoace cerești.^[10][6] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons use it to render Slavonic words for the irrational creature and the beast of burden.^[11]

DELR records the adjective dobitocesc “of animals; stupid” from 1581 and dobitocie “animal state; stupidity” from 1648.^[4] In the DLR's quotations the insult dobitocule! runs from Golescu to the 20th century.^[10] Tiktin notes that Laurian and Massim put animal in its place in the general sense; modern dictionaries define dobitoc as a four-footed, mostly domestic animal, and as the insult.^[9][2]

Timeline

• 1560–1561 – in Coresi's Tetraevanghel, the first record.^[4][9]
• 1581 – in the Palia de la Orăștie;^[6][4] dobitocesc in Coresi's Evanghelie.^[6][4]
• 1588 – collective “livestock” in a document.^[10]
• 1613 – dobitocește in Varlaam's Leastvița.^[4]
• 1648 – dobitocie.^[4]
• 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[11]
• 1691–1697 – the verb dobitoci in Corbea's dictionary.^[4]
• 1858 – îndobitoci “to brutalize”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A four-footed animal, especially a domestic one; a beast.^[2][6][1]
2. (pejorative) A stupid or boorish person; a blockhead, an idiot; also as an adjective.^[2][6][1]
3. (obsolete) livestock, wealth in cattle.^[4][6]

Word family

• dobitocesc
• dobitocește
• dobitoci
• dobitocie
• îndobitoci

Related words

• dobândi

Usage notes

The neuter plural dobitoace goes with the sense “animals”, the masculine plural dobitoci with the insult.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 324
3. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 141
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. dobitoc
5. ^ 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. dobitoc
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, 738
7. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 401
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 215
9. ^ 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. dobitoc
10. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dobitoc
11. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro