găuri

Forms

găuri (third-person singular present găurește, past participle găurit) 4th conjugation^[1] It is pronounced with gă-u- in separate syllables.^[2][3] Besides the present găuresc, MDA2 records the non-standard gaur and găur.^[4] Tiktin lists the prefixed variants îngăuri and îngăura.^[5]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian gaură + -i, from the noun for a hole.^{[2][4][5][1][6]} Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of gaură, together with găurar, găuritor and găuros.^[6] The noun itself is usually traced to Vulgar Latin *cavula, a diminutive of cavus (“hollow”);^[6][7][1] Ciorănescu prefers to see in the noun a singular rebuilt from the plural ⟨găuri⟩ of an earlier noun from Latin cavum.^[6][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from about 1670, in a text he cites by the siglum ANON CAR, with the sense “to make holes in”.^[5] MDA2 dates it to the Bucharest Bible of 1688, which uses it of the master who pierces his servant's ear with an awl: „Și-i va găuri stăpânul lui urechia cu sula” “and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl” (Exodus 21:6).^[4][5][8]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense, to make a hole with a tool, has stayed the same since the 17th century;^[9][2] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses it with Latin foro and perforo.^[9][2] The proverb picătura găurește piatra “the drop wears a hole in the stone” is recorded by CADE and DLRLC.^[10][3] CADE also gives a găuri urechile, both “to pierce the ears” for earrings and, figuratively, “to deafen”.^[10] The reflexive “to wear into holes, to fall apart” is a later sense.^[2][4] In slang the verb means “to shoot” or “to stab”, and it is also used crudely of sex.^[11][4][6]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – the first record, in a text Tiktin cites by the siglum ANON CAR.^[5]
• 1688 – „Și-i va găuri stăpânul lui urechia cu sula” in the Bucharest Bible (Exodus 21:6).^[5][8]
• 1801 – gaurésc, glossed foro, perforo, in Klein's dictionary.^[9]
• 1931 – the proverb picătura găurește piatra in CADE.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make a hole in something, usually with a tool; to drill, pierce, perforate.^[2][4][1]
2. (reflexive) To get holes in it, to wear out and fall apart.^[2][4]
3. (slang) To shoot or stab someone.^[11]

Word family

• găurire
• găurit

Related words

• gaură
• găuros
• perfora
• sfredeli

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 429
3. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 365
4. ^ 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, 973
5. ^ 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. găuri
6. ^ a b c d e 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. gaură
7. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 967
8. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 21:6
9. ^ a b c Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 365
10. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. găuri
11. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. găuri