fraged

Forms

fraged m or n (feminine singular fragedă, masculine plural fragezi, feminine/neuter plural fragede)^[1] Regional forms are fraget and fragit;^[2][3] Jipescu has „mintea-i fragită” “its tender mind”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin, but the dictionaries name two different Latin adjectives.^[4][5] According to DEX, MDA2, the DA, Candrea and Densusianu and CADE, it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fragidus, a form of Latin fragilis (“brittle”) with its suffix changed.^[5][3][6][7] The Latin adjective is formed on frangō (“to break”).^[8]

Tiktin, Cihac and Ciorănescu prefer fracidus (“very soft”), said of fruit and meat.^[2][9][4] Tiktin argues that the meaning speaks against ⟨fragilis⟩.^[2] For the change of the consonant, Ciorănescu compares lânced from languidus.^[4] The REW lists the word under ⟨fracidus⟩ crossed with ⟨fragilis⟩, following Pușcariu, while Ciorănescu thinks the crossing unnecessary.^[10][4] Wiktionary calls ⟨fracidus⟩ the more likely source.^[1] The Latin word survives in Italian fracido (“rotten”) and fradicio.^[10][9] Ungureanu compares Venetian fragido (“rotten”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Grigore Ureche's chronicle of about 1640.^[2] The DA's first quotation is from Beldiman's translation of 1820, in the sense “young, tender” said of a son.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first describes young plants, which bend and break easily, and food that is soft and easy to chew.^[6][5] From young plants it passed to people: young, delicate and frail.^[6][5] In vârstă fragedă it means early childhood.^[5] Drăghici's cookbook calls the tenderest cut of beef fragidă.^[2] A regional phrase a fi fraget la limbă means to talk too much or be unable to keep a secret.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1640 – first record, in Grigore Ureche's chronicle.^[2]
• 1688 – fraged in the Bucharest Bible.^[12]
• 1820 – fraged “young” in Beldiman's translation of Florian.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of plants) Newly grown, young, tender: iarbă fragedă.^[5][3]
2. (of vegetables, meat) Coming from young plants or animals, quick to cook and easy to chew.^[5]
3. (of green) Light and fresh, like young plants.^[5]
4. (of people) Young, delicate, frail: vârstă fragedă childhood.^[5]
5. (of cheeks, hands) With fine, soft skin.^[5]

Word family

• frăgezi
• frăgezime

Usage notes

Aluat fraged is dough worked with fat, especially fresh butter.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fraged
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, 937
4. ^ a b c d 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. fraged
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 411
6. ^ a b c d e 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. fraged
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. fraged
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 98
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3465
11. ^ Ungureanu, Dan (2024), Istoria limbii române, Chișinău: Cartier, p. 329
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Wisdom of Solomon 7:21