făptură

Forms

făptură f (plural făpturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin factūra (“a making; form, shape”), of the family of faciō (“to make, to do”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} Aromanian fãpturã (“creature”) is the same word.^[1][6] Albanian fytyrë (“face”) is compared with it.^[1][2] Its Romance cognates include Italian fattura, Old French faiture, Occitan faitura, Spanish hechura and Portuguese feitura.^[2][7][8]

Romanian later borrowed the Latin word again as factură “invoice”.^[1][5] It belongs with fapt and face.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, where the word means “creation, what was made”.^[9][10] Coresi's psalter has „Făptura mâinilor lui spuse vârtute” “the firmament shows the work of his hands” (Psalm 18:1).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The old sense is the act of making, the creation of the world: Nicolae Costin wrote „De zidirea sau făptura lumii” “on the building or making of the world”.^[11] From there it came to mean the thing created: the world, the universe, nature, and a single creature; a 17th-century manuscript of Mark 16:15 has „Propoveaduiți evanghelia a toată făptura” “preach the gospel to every creature”.^[11][10][4] The old language also used it for a command or the will of God, for an idol, and for a kind or species.^[4][11]

Another line goes to form and appearance: shape, build, stature, the way a thing is made;^[10][2] Alecsandri wrote of horses „cei mai frumoși la făptură” “the finest in build”.^[10][2] A person wholly dependent on a patron is a făptură of that patron, a sense shared with creatură.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – făptură “creation” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[9]
• 1570 – Coresi's psalter.^[12]
• c. 1573–1578 – the Psaltirea Scheiană, MDA2's first record.^[4][10]
• 17th century – „a toată făptura” “to every creature” in a manuscript of Mark's Gospel.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A creature, a living being.^[3][1]
2. The body; by extension the outward look, build and stature of a person.^[3][1]
3. Nature, character; the world, the universe.^[3][4]

Related words

• fapt
• face
• factură
• Latin factūra

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. fapt
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 384
4. ^ 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, 884
5. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 42
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 452
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3136
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 103:33
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. făptură
11. ^ a b c 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. făptură
12. ^ 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 88:46