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găină

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word găină

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1507 personal name in a document More words from the 16th century
Inherited from
Latin gallina
Ultimate origin
Latin gallus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gallus
Italian gallo
Spanish gallo
Latin gallīna
Italian gallina
Romanian găină
Spanish gallina
From the same root
Latin gallīnāceus ← gallīna
Romanian găinar ← gallīna

Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈinə/[1]

Forms

găină f (plural găini)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin gallīna (“hen”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] The Latin noun was formed on gallus (“rooster”) with the suffix -īna.[1]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian gãljinã, Megleno-Romanian găľină and Istro-Romanian galirę.[2][7][8][9] Its Romance cognates include Italian gallina, Catalan gallina, Spanish gallina, Occitan galina, French géline and Portuguese galinha.[2][10] Ciorănescu compares găinaț “hen droppings”.[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a personal name, Găină, in a document of 1507.[4] As a common noun MDA2 dates it to the Tetraevanghel of 1574,[3] and the DA quotes the passage: „cum și-adună găina sub arepile ei puii” “as the hen gathers her chicks under her wings”.[6] The sense was already the domestic hen.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word names the domestic fowl in general and, more narrowly, the hen as the female of the rooster.[12][3] Many folk sayings use it: a household where “the hen crows” is one ruled by the wife,[4][12] and to live “like the hen at the mill” is to live in plenty.[4][3] Orbul găinilor “hen blindness” is night blindness, and figuratively poor sight.[4][13]

Ciorănescu also records the Pleiades as găina and a slang sense “hat”.[2] In Argeș găină is a small earthenware pot.[14] Of the derivatives, găinar means “poultry seller” and “hen thief”, and also “thief” in general;[2][5] găinărie is both “poultry yard” and “petty theft”.[2][5]

Timeline

  • 1507 – Găină as a personal name, the first record.[4]
  • 1574 – găina “the hen” in the Tetraevanghel.[3][6]
  • 1660 – a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon glosses Slavonic words for the hen with găina.[15]
  • 1688 – găină in the Bucharest Bible.[16]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A chicken: the domestic fowl kept for its meat and eggs (Gallus domesticus).[12][3][1]
  2. A hen: the female of the cocoș.[12][3][1]
  3. (slang) A hat.[2]
  4. (regional, Argeș) A small earthenware pot.[14]

Word family

  • găina
  • găinar
  • găinăreasă
  • găinări
  • găinărie
  • găinuță
  • găinușă

Usage notes

Common expressions are a se culca cu găinile “to go to bed very early” and a sta ca o găină plouată “to look dejected”, literally “like a rained-on hen”.[12][3][13] Compounds name other animals: găină-sălbatică or găină-de-munte is the female capercaillie, and găina-lui-Dumnezeu “God's hen” is the ladybird.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. găină
  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, 969
  4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. găină
  5. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 59
  6. ^ a b c d 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. găină
  7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 490
  8. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 135
  9. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 111
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3661
  11. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 106
  12. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 428
  13. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. găină
  14. ^ a b Constantinescu, Grigore; Constantinescu, Eugenia (2014), Glosar. Arealul etnocultural Argeș-Muscel, p. 47
  15. ^ 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. găina
  16. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Leviticus 14:5

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Găină.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/g%C4%83in%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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