fuscel

Forms

fuscel m (plural fuscei)^[1] Regional variants are fușcel, fuștel and fuștei;^[2][3] Slavici's Novele has a neuter plural fușteie.^[2][3][4] A folk verse quoted by Tiktin has the form fuștei: „Legănel De păltinel Cu fuștei D-alunei” “a little cradle of sycamore with rods of hazel”.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fusticellus (“little stick”), a diminutive of Latin fustis (“stick, stake”).^[4][2][6][1] Ciorănescu follows Candrea and Densusianu, Pușcariu and the REW here.^[4][7] Tiktin explains it as a Romanian diminutive of an older form of fuște, built as muncel is from munte.^[5] In his view the variant fuștel is a later form of the headword, not a new diminutive.^[5]

The Romance cognates are Italian fuscello and fusticello, Sardinian fustigeddu and Old French fuissel.^[8] The REW glosses the Latin form “small spindle” and puts the Old French word under a separate base, *fuscellus.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825.^[5] MDA2 gives Slavici's Novele (1892) as the first record, for the rods passed between the warp threads of a loom.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names a rod that crosses something: the rods that keep the warp of a loom in order, the rungs of a ladder, the upright bars of a cart's side rails, the slats of a porch or fence.^[2][5] A text Tiktin quotes from Marian speaks of a wax ladder with tiny rungs, „O scară de ceară Cu fuscei mărunței”.^[5] By a likeness of shape it also names the stalk of an onion, as in Delavrancea's warriors who break a bear in two as if they snapped an onion stalk.^[5][3]

Regional speech uses it for a constellation of two parallel lines of three stars, laid out like the loom rods.^[2] In Bucovina, Ciorănescu suspects a lost verb *fuscelui “to pass wool through the teeth of a carding comb” behind foșălui “to card wool”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1825 – the first record, in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[5]
• 1892 – rods of a loom, in Slavici's Novele.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Each of the rods passed between the warp threads of a loom to keep them apart.^[6][2]
2. Each of the bars or boards that form the rungs of a ladder.^[6][1]
3. Each of the upright bars of the side rails (loitră) of a cart.^[6][2]
4. (rare) The stalk of an onion.^[6][2]

Word family

• foșălui
• foșălău

Related words

• fuște
• Latin fustis

References

1. ^ a b c 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, 957
3. ^ 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, 348
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. fuscel
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fuscel
6. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 422
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3615
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. fuscel