firește

Forms

firește^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian fire + -ește, the noun meaning “nature, character” with the adverbial suffix.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin gives the same base.^[5] Its adjective counterpart is firesc “natural”, and MDA2's first sense of the adverb is “in a natural way”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Bucharest Bible of 1688, in the sense “by nature”: its preface says that the desire of man by nature looks to God, „Fireaște pohta omului... să uită la Dumnezău”.^[4][3][5] The same Bible has the spelling fireaște in the Epistle of Jude.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The adverb first meant “by nature, from birth”: in the 19th century the chronicler Zilot praised a boyar as “by nature gentle and calm”, firește blajin și ticnit.^[4] From “in the natural course of things” it came to mean “naturally, of course”, a word that confirms what is said; the DA notes it is often a mere strengthening of an assertion, as in Firește că viu! “Of course I'm coming!”.^[4] Klein's dictionary of 1801 renders it with Latin naturaliter.^[7] Scriban and the CADE give both senses, “in a natural way” and “of course, certainly”.^[8][9] Today the second is the usual one, mostly as a parenthetical word, and Wiktionary labels it literary.^[10][2][1]

Timeline

• 1688 – fireaște “by nature” in the Bucharest Bible.^[4][3][5]
• 1801 – firéfhte (firește) glossed naturaliter in Klein's dictionary.^[7]
• 19th century – “by nature” in Zilot's chronicle;^[4] “of course” in Negruzzi and Maiorescu.^[4]
• 1931 – the CADE gives the senses “in a natural way” and “of course”.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. naturally, of course, bineînțeles; certainly, desigur; often a parenthetical word: Firește, nimeni nu l-a crezut. “Naturally, nobody believed him.”^[2][10][3]
2. (dated) By nature, din fire; in a natural way.^[3][4][9]

Related words

• fire
• firesc

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 396
3. ^ 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, 908
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. firește
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. firește
6. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Jude 1:10
7. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 360
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 509
9. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. firește
10. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. firește