flocos

Forms

flocos m or n (feminine singular flocoasă, masculine plural flocoși, feminine/neuter plural flocoase)^[1]

Etymology

DEX, MDA2 and the DLRM take it as formed in Romanian, from Romanian floc + -os.^[2][3][4] The DA, Tiktin, Scriban, Șăineanu, Candrea and Densusianu and Cihac derive it instead from Late Latin floccosus, an adjective formed on floccus.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]} Wiktionary allows both.^[1] The word Aromanian flucos (“long-haired”) is its sister form, which Papahagi also derives from the Latin adjective.^[11][9] Cihac and Candrea and Densusianu compare Italian fioccoso and Spanish fluecoso.^[10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582, in Genesis 25:25, the description of the newborn Esau.^[6] Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1649 uses it to gloss a Slavonic word for a lock of hair.^[12] MDA2 dates it later, from Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), where the camel is flocoasă on its breast.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes animals, people and furs covered with thick, soft, long hair, and hair that grows in thick soft tufts.^[5][3] It is common of shaggy dogs and sheepskin caps: Negruzzi's riders wear tall căciuli flocoase.^[6][5] A proverb in Zanne says that the shaggy dog keeps only itself warm, of the rich who will not give.^[5] The feminine is used as a noun for broomcorn (Sorghum), and plant names are formed on it: iarbă flocoasă for motherwort and catmint, flocoșică for Yorkshire fog grass, flocoșele for rose campion.^[6][8][9]

Timeline

• 1581–1582 – in the Palia de la Orăștie (Genesis 25:25).^[6]
• 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[12]
• 1705 – flocoasă in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[3][5]
• 1825 – flocosu “shaggy, hairy” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of animals, or of clothes made of fur) Covered with thick, long, soft hair or with dense tufts of it; shaggy.^[2][3][1]
2. (of hair) Growing in thick, soft tufts.^[3][5]

Related words

• floc
• Aromanian flucos

Usage notes

The feminine flocoasă is a name of broomcorn.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 400
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 918
4. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. flocos
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. flocos
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. flocos
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 515
8. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 254
9. ^ a b c d Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. flocos
10. ^ a b Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 96
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 465
12. ^ 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. flocos
13. ^ 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. 220