Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word ghinduros

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1822–1823 Bobb's dictionary More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin glans
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin glāns
Romanian ghindă
English glans
Latin glandula
Romanian ghindură
Romanian ghinduros
Spanish agalla
From the same root
Romanian ghindar ← ghindă

Pronunciation

  • /ɡin.duˈros/[1]

Forms

ghinduros m or n (feminine singular ghinduroasă, masculine plural ghinduroși, feminine/neuter plural ghinduroase)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian ghindură + -os according to MDA2 and NODEX, and Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the noun.[2][3][4] Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu derive it directly from Late Latin glandulōsus (“glandular”), and the DA compares the Latin word.[4][5][6] Wiktionary gives both explanations and calls it a doublet of glandulos.[1] Its counterpart Aromanian gljinduros is likewise taken from the Latin by Pascu.[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Candrea and Densusianu found it in Bobb's dictionary of 1822–1823 and in the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825, glossed French glanduleux.[5] The Lexicon gives it a second sense, lumpy or rugged, beside full of glands.[8] MDA2's first record is Piscupescu's medical handbook of 1829: „Vărsatul cel mic și ghinduros, ce-i zice pojar” “the small pox with swollen glands, which is called measles”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Nineteenth-century dictionaries treat it as an anatomical term: Costinescu glosses French glanduleux, Antonescu glandulaire, and Barcianu German drüsig.[9][10][11] MDA2 distinguishes full of ganglions from having swollen glands, and NODEX labels it popular.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1822–1823 – in Bobb's dictionary.[5]
  • 1825 – in the Lexicon de la Buda, “glandular” and “lumpy”.[8]
  • 1829 – in Piscupescu's medical handbook.[2]
  • 1870 – Costinescu marks it as an anatomical term.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (popular) full of ganglions or glands.[2][3][1]
  2. With swollen glands.[2]
  • ghindă
  • glandulos
  • Aromanian gljinduros

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 993
  3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. ghinduros
  4. ^ a b 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. ghindură
  5. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. ghinduros
  6. ^ a b 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. ghindură
  7. ^ 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. 94
  8. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 237
  9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 484
  10. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 113
  11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 251
Cite this entry

“Ghinduros.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/ghinduros. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·