domnișoară

Forms

domnișoară f (plural domnișoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian doamnă + -ișoară.^[2][3][4][5] DELR adds that the diminutive of doamnă became a term of courtesy on the model of French demoiselle, mademoiselle and German Fräulein.^[6] Wiktionary takes it instead as the feminine of domnișor, itself domn with the diminutive suffix -șor.^[1] DELR traces the noun to Late Latin domna, the same word as domina.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record, which the DLR follows, is the Elementa linguae of 1780;^[5][4][6] DELR dates it to Micu's dictionary of 1780–1801.^[5][4][6] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses it with Latin domicella and German Fräulein.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were social ranks: MDA2 lists “mistress”, “daughter of a ruling prince” and “young woman of a noble family” as old uses, and the Lexicon de la Buda (1825) defines it as a girl of noble birth.^[3][8] Scriban still gives “daughter of a boyar”, beside “unmarried woman, however old”.^[9] It became the polite title of any unmarried girl or woman; in Moldavia duduie was the equivalent.^[2][10] Regionally it meant the daughter of a priest.^[3]

Transylvanian speech gave the name to birds and flowers: the female goldfinch, the white wagtail and, in Oaș, the zinnia.^[6][10] DELR also records a familiar variant donșoară and the diminutive domnișorică from 1927.^[6]

Timeline

• 1780 – the first record.^[5][4]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary: domicella, Fräulein.^[7]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda: a girl of noble birth.^[8][3]
• 1839 – a title of courtesy before a name, Domnișoara Berta.^[4]
• 1927 – domnișorică.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. miss, young lady: a polite term for a girl or an unmarried woman, alone or before her name, duduie: domnișoară de onoare “bridesmaid” and “lady-in-waiting”.^[2][3][1]
2. (colloquial) A daughter.^[2]
3. (dated) A young woman of the privileged classes.^[11][3]
4. (regional) The female goldfinch.^[3][6]
5. (slang) A passive homosexual.^[12]

Word family

• domnișorică

Related words

• doamnă
• domn
• domnișor
• French demoiselle

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 327
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 744
4. ^ 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. domnișoară
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. domnișoară
6. ^ 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. domnișoară
7. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 354
8. ^ a b 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. 194
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 442
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. domnișoară
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. domnișoară
12. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. domnișoară