domnie

Forms

domnie f (plural domnii)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian domn + -ie, the word for a lord or prince with the suffix of abstract and collective nouns.^[2][3][4][1] The base noun continues Latin dom(i)nus (“master, lord”).^[5] The same formation is found south of the Danube: Aromanian dumníl'e and the Megleno-Romanian form dumníl'ă that DELR records.^[6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, in the psalms.^[6][3][9] Tiktin's first record is Neacșu's letter of 1521, and his early quotations give the sense “rule, reign”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In the religious texts the plural domnii names one of the orders of angels, the “dominions”, and the word could mean “glory”.^[3][6] In the Romanian principalities the domn was the ruling prince, and domnie came to mean his office, the length of his reign, the land he ruled, his court and even his own person: Neculce writes of a man let out on bail “until the prince comes”, până a venire domnia.^[10][4][3] Princes wrote of themselves as Domnia mea “my Lordship”, a majestic form found in charters of 1694 and 1757.^[10]

From the same use come the polite forms of address domnia ta, domnia voastră, domnia lui, which were worn down to dumneata, dumneavoastră and dumnealui.^[5][11] With the end of the princely office the general sense “domination, rule” remained, as in domnia legilor “the rule of law”.^[11][2]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[6][9]
• 1521 – in Neacșu's letter.^[10]
• 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon, glossing Slavonic words for “lordship”.^[12]
• 1688 – in the Bucharest Bible.^[13]
• 1694 – Domnia mea “my Lordship” as a prince's title in a charter.^[10]
• c. 1743 – domnia “the prince” in Neculce's chronicle.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The political and legal authority of a ruling prince; the dignity of domn.^[2][3]
2. The time during which a prince rules; a reign.^[2]
3. (dated) The land or people ruled by a prince.^[2][3]
4. domination, rule, power.^[2]
5. (dated) In phrases of respectful address: Domnia Ta, Domnia Voastră “Your Lordship”; with a possessive, a majestic title of the prince.^[2][10]
6. (in the plural, religious) One of the orders of angels, the dominions.^[3][6]

Word family

• dumneata
• dumneavoastră
• dumnealui

Related words

• domni
• domn
• doamnă
• domnesc
• Aromanian dumnilje

Usage notes

Dumneata, dumnealui and dumneavoastră are reduced forms of domnia ta, domnia lui and domnia voastră.^[5][11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. domnie
5. ^ a b c 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. domn
6. ^ a b c d e 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. domnie
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 420
8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 421
9. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 20:5
10. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. domnie
11. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 442
12. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. domnie
13. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Isaiah 40:10