febră

Forms

febră f (plural febre)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin febris (“fever”), a learned loan, with Italian febbre as a model;^[2][3][1][4] MDA2, DEX 2009 and Wiktionary name both sources.^[2][3][1][4] The neologism dictionaries differ in emphasis: Marcu and Maneca give Italian, comparing Latin, while DLRM gives only literary Latin.^[5][6]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *feχwri-, and de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-ri- (“burning, fever”), from the root of “to burn”, with Ancient Greek τέφρα (téphra, “ashes”) as a cognate.^[7][1] Nocentini instead compares Lithuanian drugỹs (“shivering”) and suggests a reduplicated form.^[8]

The same Latin word had already been inherited as fior “shiver”, which survives south of the Danube: Aromanian hior.^[9][10][11] Gabinschi therefore pairs the inherited word and this learned loan as doublets.^[12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1813, with the sense “fever”, and records an obsolete variant fevră.^[4] MDA2 gives no earlier source than the DA of 1913.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the early 20th century the word was felt as the medical term: Scriban and Șăineanu define it as the scientific name of friguri, the popular word for fevers, and the DA sends the reader from febră to friguri.^[13][14][15] CADE gives febră tifoidă “typhoid fever”.^[16]

DLRLC defines it as a raised temperature, a symptom of disease, and with a following word it names several diseases with fever, among them febra galbenă “yellow fever” and febra recurentă “relapsing fever”.^[17][2] Febră musculară is the muscle soreness after unusual exertion.^[2][3] The figurative sense, excitement or tension before or during an event, is in DLRLC and later dictionaries.^[17][3]

Timeline

• 1813 – febră “fever”, the first record.^[4]
• 1913 – the DA refers febră to the popular friguri.^[15][2]
• 1931 – febră tifoidă “typhoid fever”.^[16]
• 1955–1957 – the figurative sense “excitement, anxiety” in DLRLC.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. fever: a raised body temperature, the body's reaction to an infection, a poison and the like; temperatură.^[3][2][1]
2. With a qualifier, the name of several diseases marked by fever: febră aftoasă “foot-and-mouth disease”, febră galbenă “yellow fever”, febră recurentă “relapsing fever”.^[3][2]
3. febră musculară: general tiredness and muscle soreness after unusual physical effort.^[3][2]
4. (figurative) Excitement, anxiety, tension before or during an event: febra examenelor.^[3][2]

Related words

• fior
• febril
• Italian febbre
• Latin febris

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 889
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. 386
4. ^ 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. fébră
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. febră
6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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. fior
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3230
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 557
12. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 105
13. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 498
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 246
15. ^ a b 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. febră
16. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
17. ^ 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, 272