grozav

Forms

grozav m or n (feminine singular grozavă, masculine plural grozavi, feminine/neuter plural grozave)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Bulgarian грозав (grozav), according to MDA2, DEX and Wiktionary.^[2][3][1] The Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary records it as a dialect word, a derivative of the noun гроза (groza, “horror”).^[4] Scriban gives the Bulgarian word and also Old Church Slavonic грозавъ (grozavŭ).^[5] The Slavic noun continues Proto-Slavic *groza (“horror”).^[6]

Ciorănescu lists it instead among the Romanian derivatives of groază “terror”, comparing the Bulgarian adjective.^[7] Tiktin likewise connects it with Old Church Slavonic гроза (groza) and, for the old sense “ugly”, compares Bulgarian грозен (grozen).^[8] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 proposed Italian grossolano (“coarse”), a view of its time.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded first in names: Tiktin cites the place name Grozăveștii from 1492 and the personal name Grozav from 1498.^[8] Constantinescu's dictionary of personal names lists a Grozav who was a vornic of Petru Rareș.^[10] As a common adjective it appears in Ureche's chronicle, where a woman will not marry Bogdan Vodă „căce era prea grozav la față și orb de un ochiu” “because he was very ugly in the face and blind in one eye”.^[8] MDA2's first record is Varlaam's Cazania of 1643, with cuvinte grozave “terrible words”.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the adjective meant both “terrifying” and “ugly, deformed”.^[8][11] Klein's dictionary of 1801 renders it with Latin words for “ugly, deformed, horrible”.^[12] From “frightening” it came to mean “extremely great, intense”, and as an adverb “terribly, very”: Ispirescu writes grozav de mare “terribly big”.^[8][11]

In the 19th century it took on a positive sense, “remarkable, excellent”, often ironic of a self-important person: Vlahuță asks what someone had written “so great” as to criticise others.^[8] The phrases a se crede grozav “to think highly of oneself” and a face pe grozavul “to show off” belong to this sense.^[3][11] The sense “ugly” is now marked as old.^[2]

Timeline

• 1492 – the place name Grozăveștii.^[8]
• 1498 – the personal name Grozav.^[8]
• c. 1642–1647 – “ugly” in Ureche's chronicle.^[8]
• 1643 – cuvinte grozave “terrible words” in Varlaam's Cazania.^[2][11]
• 1688 – grozave in Genesis 41 in the Bucharest Bible.^[13]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary: “ugly, deformed, horrible”.^[12]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda: “hideous, horrible”.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. terrible, dreadful: causing horror by its look, behaviour or effects.^[3]
2. Extremely strong, violent or intense; huge.^[3]
3. remarkable, exceptional, great; also brave;^[3] a se crede grozav to think too highly of oneself.^[3]
4. (dated) ugly, deformed.^[2][8]

Adverb

1. Very, extremely, a lot: Îmi place grozav. “I like it a lot.”^[3][5]

Word family

• grozăvi
• grozăvie

Related words

• groază
• groaznic
• îngrozitor

Usage notes

As a noun, a face pe grozavul means to boast without reason, to give oneself airs.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1027
3. ^ 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. 452
4. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 283
5. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 579
6. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 191
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. grozav
9. ^ 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. 246
10. ^ Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. grozav
11. ^ a b c d e 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. grozav
12. ^ a b 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
13. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Facerea 41:3