fiindcă

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian fiind (“being”) + că (“that”), literally “being that”.^[2][3][4][1] The first part is the gerund of fi “to be”.^[4][3] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 compares the Italian phrase essendo che.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1632, in a law code (pravilă).^[4] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has it once, in 1 Timothy 6:2.^[6] MDA2's first record is later, in the sermons of Antim Ivireanul (1709–1716).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed “because, since”, introducing a clause of cause.^[3][4] In speech it is shortened: Tiktin records fiincă and fincă in Muntenia, and Moldavian cindurăcă and cindrică, which he thinks may come from fiind dar(ă).^[4] MDA2 lists more of these Moldavian and Bucovinian forms, such as hindură că.^[2]

Timeline

• 1632 – first record, in a law code.^[4]
• 1688 – in the Bucharest Bible.^[6]
• 1709–1716 – in Antim Ivireanul's sermons.^[2]
• 1825 – in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[5]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. because, since: introduces a clause giving the cause: Am rămas acasă fiindcă ploua. “I stayed at home because it was raining.”^[3][2][1]

Related words

• fi
• că
• deoarece

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 903
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 393
4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fiindcă
5. ^ 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. 218
6. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 1 Timothy 6:2