fânaț

Forms

fânaț n (plural fânațuri or fânațe)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *fenacium, an adjective of fēnum (“hay”) used as a noun, with prātum (“meadow”) understood.^[2][3][4][1] This is the view of Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the DA and Giuglea.^[5] Tiktin compares the suffix of găinaț and vinațuri and also cites the DA's etymon.^[6]

Ciorănescu disagrees: for him it is a new singular made from the plural of fâneață (itself formed on fân).^[5] Wiktionary gives both explanations and compares French fenasse and Catalan fenàs.^[1] For the sense “hay” the DA allows a metonymy of the place for what grows on it, but thinks an adjective *fenacius used as a noun more likely.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1464, cited from Drăganu.^[6] MDA2 starts with a Moldavian document of 1631, which the DA and Tiktin cite for the old plural fânați.^[4][2][6] A Hunedoara document of 1715 shows the sense “hayfield”: „unde au rămas holde și fânață … să împărțim frățește” “where fields and hayfields were left … let us share them as brothers”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The main sense is a field where grass is left to grow for mowing.^[2][3] A Moldavian document of 1763 marks the boundary of a monastery's fânaț.^[2] The sense “hay”, mostly in the plural, appears in Nicolae Costin, who writes that people were left with neither hay nor bread, and in Delavrancea's „o pală de fânaț” “a forkful of hay”.^[2][7]

The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 glosses fênaţu with Latin pratum foenarium and derives it from Latin foenatum, a view of its time.^[8] DEX and MDA2 label the word popular.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1464 – the first record, cited by Tiktin from Drăganu.^[6]
• 1631 – the plural fânați in a Moldavian document from Iași.^[4][2]
• 1715 – fânață “hayfields” in a document from Hunedoara.^[2]
• 1763 – fânațul mănăstirei “the monastery's hayfield” in a Moldavian document.^[2]
• 1825 – fênaţu in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (popular) A hayfield, a meadow left to grow for mowing;^[3][4][1] fâneață.^[3][4][1]
2. (popular) hay;^[3][7] fân.^[3][7]

Related words

• fân
• fâneață
• fânărie
• Latin fēnum

Usage notes

The plural is fânațe or fânațuri; folk poetry also has fânață, and the 1631 document a masculine plural fânați.^[3][2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. fânaț
3. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 385
4. ^ 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, 888
5. ^ a b 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. fân
6. ^ 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. fânaț
7. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 299
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. 214