gaz

Forms

gaz n (plural gaze)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “gas” is borrowed from French gaz, as DEX, MDA2, Tiktin and the neologism dictionaries give it.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The French word, first spelled ⟨gas⟩ in 1670, was coined by the Flemish physician and chemist Van Helmont after Latin chaos.^[6]

Graur pointed out that the dictionaries derive both the chemical sense and the popular sense “petroleum, kerosene” from French, though French does not use the word for petroleum.^[7] He argued that the popular sense spread earlier than the chemical term, since it alone has common derivatives such as găzar and gazorniță and idioms.^[7] The word has the sense “petroleum” in Bulgarian газ (gaz), Turkish gaz and Ukrainian газ (haz) as well; the Bulgarian etymological dictionary starts from Turkish gaz yağı, a calque of American “gas oil”, while Graur thought Romanian, long a large oil producer, might be the starting point for the Balkan languages, without being sure.^[7] Aromanian has gaz “petroleum; oil lamp”, which Pascu compares with Turkish and Bulgarian.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1813.^[4] MDA2's first record, in a technical dictionary of 1950, is much later.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Two senses grew side by side: the scientific “gas, a fluid of low density that fills any space” and the everyday “kerosene, lamp oil”.^[7][4] The second gave găzar “kerosene seller”, gazorniță “oil lamp” and the colloquial phrases doar n-am băut gaz “I'm not mad” and a arde gazul degeaba “to waste one's time”.^[10][2][4] In the plural the word also names poison gases used in war and gases in the stomach and intestines.^[2] An old plural gazuri is recorded beside gaze.^[3][11]

Timeline

• 1813 – the first record.^[4]
• 1931 – CADE gives both “gas” and “lamp petroleum”.^[12]
• 1975 – Graur discusses the sense “petroleum” and its Balkan parallels.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gas: a fluid of low density with no shape of its own that expands to fill the space it has; also a gas used as fuel, as in gaze naturale “natural gas” and gaz lichefiat “liquefied gas”.^[2][1]
2. (in the plural) Toxic or asphyxiating gases used in war.^[2][5]
3. (in the plural) Gases of the stomach or intestines, flatulence.^[2]
4. (colloquial) kerosene, lamp oil.^[2][4]

Word family

• găzar
• gazos

Usage notes

DEX gives a separate gaz¹ “gauze, a very thin fabric”, a borrowing of French gaze.^[2][5] MDA2 records it, with the variant gază, first in Bacovia in 1944.^[3] Scriban preferred the feminine gază for the fabric.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 427
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 967
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. gaz
5. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. gaz
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Graur, Alexandru (1975), Alte etimologii românești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. gaz
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 487
9. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 210
10. ^ 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. gaz
11. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 543
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. gaz