geme

Forms

geme (third-person singular present geme, past participle gemut, third-person subjunctive geamă) 3rd conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin gemō (“to groan, moan”).^[2][3][4][5] It survives in Aromanian dzem, which Ciorănescu cites as ⟨gem⟩.^[2][1] The Romance cognates include Italian gemere, French geindre, Spanish gemir and Portuguese gemer.^[2][5] Tiktin suggests that Modern Greek γεμίζω (gemízo, “to fill”) may have influenced the sense “to be overfull”.^[6]

The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain.^[7] It has usually been connected with Ancient Greek γέμω (gémō, “to be full”); de Vaan finds the change of meaning hard to accept and prefers Vine's link with γέγωνα (gégōna, “to shout”), from a root meaning “to call”.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Candrea's glossary of the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578) lists the infinitive.^[8] Tiktin's first record is Coresi's Omiliar of 1581.^[6] MDA2 and the DA cite Neculce's chronicle (c. 1743), where Cossacks hear someone groaning: „cazacii auzind gemând”.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The verb first describes people who utter inarticulate sounds of pain, then animals, as the dove in Cantemir, and objects that creak, as a well sweep in Eminescu.^[9] Wind, forests and rivers “groan” in 19th-century poetry, and DEX defines the sense as “to murmur, to roar”.^[9][4] Of peoples it means “to be oppressed”, a sense the DA labels a Gallicism.^[9] Used with de it means “to be full to overflowing”, as streets “groaning” with people.^[9][4] Regionally it also means “to pant” and, of children, “to whimper”.^[3]

From it come geamăt “groan” and gemător “groaning”;^[2][10] Ciorănescu notes that geamăt may also continue Latin gemitus (“groan”).^[2][10]

Timeline

• c. 1573–1578 – the infinitive in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[8]
• 1581 – in Coresi's Omiliar.^[6]
• 1688 – gemu “he groaned” in the Bucharest Bible.^[11]
• 1705 – nu mai geamă hulubul “let the dove groan no more” in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[9]
• c. 1743 – gemând in Neculce's chronicle.^[3][9]
• 1862 – Pontbriant glosses it with French gémir and mugir (of the sea).^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To groan, moan: to utter inarticulate sounds from physical or mental pain.^[4][3]
2. (figurative) Of wind, forests or water, to murmur, to roar.^[4][3]
3. (figurative, with de) To be full to overflowing: piața gemea de lume “the square was packed with people”.^[4][9]
4. (figurative) Of a people, to be oppressed.^[3][9]
5. (regional) To pant; of children, to whimper.^[3]

Word family

• gemător
• geamăt
• gemut

Related words

• Aromanian dzem
• Latin gemō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. geme
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, 981
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 432
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3722
6. ^ 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. geme
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A. (1916), Psaltirea Scheiană comparată cu celelalte psaltiri din sec. XVI și XVII traduse din slavonește, vol. II: Glosarele, București: Socec, p. 297
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. geme
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3724
11. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. John 11:33
12. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 284