fustă

Forms

fustă f (plural fuste)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek φούστα (foústa, “skirt”), according to DER, DEX, MDA2 and CADE.^[2][3][4][5] Ciorănescu explains the Greek word as a shortening of φουστάνι (foustáni), which goes back to Italian fustana and to Medieval Latin fustaneum (“cotton cloth”), although no Italian form with that shape is recorded.^[2] Eren and Tietze give the Italian word as fustagno “fustian”, and Wiktionary gives its plural.^[6][7][1] The Medieval Latin name of the cloth is of uncertain origin: it is often linked with Fustat, the city in Egypt, and Graur takes that route.^[1][8]

The DA instead derives it from Bulgarian, and CADE compares the word there.^[9][5] Tiktin saw behind the whole family the Turkish word, Turkish fistan in modern Turkish, and noted that Albanian, Greek and Bulgarian also have the shortened form.^[10] Eren explains the Turkish word itself as a loan from Greek, and the short form of the Balkan languages as Greek too.^[6]

The word is also found south of the Danube: Aromanian fustă and Megleno-Romanian fuscă.^{[2][11][12][13]} Albanian fustë belongs to the same Balkan family.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1794, in a document published in Iorga's Studii și documente.^[10] MDA2's first record is from Costache Negruzzi, where the fustă is of light blue satin.^[4][9] The sense was a woman's garment worn from the waist down.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the towns of the 19th and early 20th centuries the fustă was often the petticoat worn under the dress;^[14][15][9] Scriban notes that it was once only white, like underwear.^[14][15][9] In Moldavia the word named the skirt of the dress, and in the villages a plain dress of shop cloth worn at home and at field work.^[9][4] Regionally it also means an apron, a wrap skirt or a headscarf, and it forms folk plant names such as fusta-rândunelii.^[4][9]

Eminescu used the plural for women in general, mocking those who seek advancement „prin protecție de fuste” “through petticoat protection”; this disparaging sense “woman” is in all the modern dictionaries.^[16][3] An older word fustan “fustian” was used in the 18th century, from Turkish.^[2] Romanian fustă passed into Ukrainian хвуста (xvusta), whence Polish chusta.^[1]

Timeline

• 1794 – the first record, in a document published by Iorga.^[10]
• 18th century – fustan “fustian”, a separate loan from Turkish.^[2]
• 1872 – MDA2's first record, in the collected writings of Costache Negruzzi.^[4]
• 1939 – Scriban defines it as the petticoat worn under the dress.^[14]
• 1975 – fustă tub “pencil skirt” in the press.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A skirt: a woman's garment covering the body from the waist down.^[3][4]
2. (figurative, disparaging) A woman.^[3][4]
3. (regional) A simple dress of cheap cloth, worn at home and at field work.^[4][9]
4. (regional) An apron of thin cloth; also a wrap skirt or a headscarf.^[4][9]

Related words

• fustanelă
• jupă
• Aromanian fustă
• Modern Greek φούστα (foústa)

Usage notes

MDA2 and the DA record the regional variants fâstă and fuștă.^[4][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. fustă
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 422
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. fustă
6. ^ a b Eren, Hasan (1999), Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü, Ankara: Bizim Büro, p. 146
7. ^ Tietze, Andreas (2002–2018), Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lugatı, Istanbul: Simurg; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, p. 96
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. fustă
10. ^ 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. fústă
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 483
12. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 187
13. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 133
14. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 536
15. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 264
16. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 348
17. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. fústă