farmec

Forms

farmec n (plural farmece)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pharmacum (“drug, magic potion”), from Ancient Greek φάρμακον (phármakon, “drug, poison, charm”).^{[2][3][1][4][5]} Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, Philippide and Rosetti take this Latin route, while Murnu and Diculescu take the word directly from Greek.^[5][6] The Latin form is not attested in this sense: the DA calls it the popular Latin ⟨*pharmacum⟩, and Candrea–Densusianu assume that in the Latin of the Balkans it had the sense “charm” of the Greek word.^[7][8]

The regular outcome ⟨farmăc⟩ survives in old texts and in Moldavia.^[8][3] Candrea–Densusianu and Graur explain ⟨farmec⟩ from the plural ⟨farmece⟩.^[8][3] Graur also argues that the verb fermeca was formed in Romanian, not inherited from Vulgar Latin *pharmacō.^[8] Aromanian fărmac “poison, bitterness” came directly from Greek.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Codicele Voronețean, in the Acts of the Apostles (19:19), where many who practised magic gathered their books and burned them: „Destui de ceiea ce făcea farmăce adură-și carțile și le ardea între toți” “Many of those who worked spells gathered their books and burned them before all”.^[7][3][10] The sense is “spell, sorcery”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the word meant witchcraft and the means of it: the spell cast, the potion or object used and its effect, close to vrajă and descântec.^[7] The 17th-century lexicons gloss it with Slavonic words for sorcery and charms.^[11] From the magic that holds a person the word passed to the attraction itself: the beauty or grace that delights, as in farmecul pădurii “the charm of the forest”, and the delight felt.^[2][7][5]

Timeline

• c. 1563-1583 – farmăce “spells” in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3][7]
• 1649 – farmecele glosses Slavonic “sorcerer” in Mardarie's lexicon.^[11]
• 1688 – farmecelor in the Bucharest Bible.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (in tales and superstitions) A spell, sorcery: the act of bewitching, the magic change it brings about, and the means used;^[2][3][1] ca prin farmec “as if by magic”.^[2][3][1]
2. charm, allure: the beauty and grace that delight.^[2][1]
3. The delight felt at something charming.^[2]

Word family

• fermeca
• fermecător
• fermecătoreasă
• fermecătoresc
• fermecătorie
• fermecătură

Related words

• Ancient Greek φάρμακον (phármakon)

Usage notes

MDA2 records the old and regional variants farmăc, farmă, farmăcă, fermec and foarmec, and an old plural farmeci.^[3] The neologisms farmacie and farmacist are of the same Greek origin but came through French.^[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. 381
3. ^ 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, 878
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6462
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. farmec
6. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 50
7. ^ a b c d e f 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. farmec
8. ^ a b c d Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. farmec
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 449
10. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. farmec
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, p. s.v. farmec
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Nahum 3:4