Etymologically
Log in

groază

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word groază

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1491 More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Old Church Slavonic гроза
Ultimate origin
Proto-Slavic *groza

Forms

groază f (plural groaze)[1] Besides the plural groaze there is an older grozi: grozile morții “the terrors of death”.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic гроза (groza, “horror, dread”).[5][2][6][3][1] DER and the DA compare Bulgarian гроза (groza) and Serbo-Croatian groza.[5][4] The Slavonic word, which glosses Ancient Greek φρίκη (phríkē, “shuddering”), continues Proto-Slavic *groza, whose descendants mean “horror” and in Russian also “thunderstorm”.[7][8][9][1] Vasmer relates it to Lithuanian gražóti (“to threaten”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1491.[3] MDA2's first is Varlaam's Cazania of 1643: „O, Doamne, groaza ta cu carea veri să gonești pre cei nemulțămitori” “O Lord, your terror, with which you will drive away the ungrateful”.[2][4] The sense was “terror, dread” from the start.[4]

Semantic evolution

Dosoftei, Neculce and Mustea use it for terror, and the Palia de la Orăștie for the awe of God's power.[4][3] By extension it names the thing or person that inspires terror: Nicolae Costin's chronicle speaks of “all the Turkish horrors”.[3][2]

The colloquial o groază de… “a huge amount of…” is a later figurative use, a crowd so great that it frightens;[5][4][8] DER and the DA note that Slovene has the same sense, and Czech and Slovak hrůza, hrôza mean “multitude” too.[5][4][8] Caragiale has o groază de avizuri “a heap of notices”.[3] Recent colloquial Romanian uses de groază for “awful”.[10]

Timeline

  • 1491 – the first record, according to Tiktin.[3]
  • 1643 – groaza ta “your terror” in Varlaam's Cazania.[2][4]
  • 1649 – groaze in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.[11]
  • 1688 – groază in the Bucharest Bible.[12]
  • 1801 – Latin horror, terror as its gloss in Klein's dictionary.[13]
  • 1825 – groză with Latin horror and German Schauer, Entsetzen in the Lexicon de la Buda.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. terror, horror: a strong and violent fear caused by something dreadful, a great danger or a disaster: a fugit de groază.[6][2][1]
  2. (concrete) A person or thing that terrifies.[6][2]
  3. (figurative) In o groază (de…): a great many, a huge amount: o groază de bani.[6][2]

Word family

  • Old Church Slavonic гроза (groza)

Usage notes

Common phrases are mi-e groază de… “I dread…;[2][15] I am sick of…”, a-l lua groaza “to be seized with terror” and a băga (pe cineva) în groază “to terrify someone”.[2][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1025
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. groáză
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. groază
  5. ^ a b c d 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. groază
  6. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 451
  7. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  8. ^ a b c Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 191
  9. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. s.v. гроза
  10. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. groáză
  11. ^ 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. groaze
  12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Isaiah 19:16
  13. ^ 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. 368
  14. ^ 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. 246
  15. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 419

Related etymologies

  • prea · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • înșela · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • pară · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • somn · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • veste · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • coș · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • lin · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • râs · also from Old Church Slavonic
Cite this entry

“Groază.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/groaz%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·