iască

Forms

iască f (plural iești)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ēsca (“food, bait”), a derivative of edō (“to eat”).^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} The REW records the Latin word in three senses, “food”, “bait” and “tinder”;^[7][8] Graur traces the Romanian sense from “food, bait” to “tinder”.^[7][8]

The word survives south of the Danube: Megleno-Romanian iască, and Ciorănescu gives the same form for Aromanian.^[2][9] Its Romance cognates include Italian esca, Occitan esca, French èche and Spanish yesca.^[2] Ciorănescu also compares Albanian eskë.^[2] Scriban compares the Latin vowel's outcome with that of seară and teacă.^[10] Romanian is the source of Romani yeska, according to Ciorănescu.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary of about 1670.^[5] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses Iâfca (read iasca) with Latin fomes “tinder”.^[11] MDA2's first source is Alecsandri's plays (1875): „mi s-o făcut gîtița iască” “my throat has gone as dry as tinder”.^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 defines it as the tinder fungus that grows on trees, with Latin boletus igniarius.^[13] The fungus, once treated and dried, caught the spark from flint and steel and was used to light fires, and in folk medicine to stop bleeding.^[3][12] Its dryness gave the phrase a se face iască “to dry up; to grow very thin”, and the figurative sense of tasteless, dry food.^[3][14][10] In builders' language a regional iască is a piece of wood added to a short beam.^[4] Slang uses the word as an adjective for “impotent”.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – iască in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[5]
• 1801 – Iâfca “tinder” in Klein's dictionary.^[11]
• 1825 – the tinder fungus in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[13]
• 1875 – a se face iască in Alecsandri's plays.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. tinder fungus: any of several hard, dry, hoof-shaped fungi (Fomes, Phellinus) growing on tree trunks, once used to light fires and to stop bleeding.^[3][4][1]
2. (dated) tinder, touchwood made from this fungus.^[14][1]
3. (figurative) Dry, tasteless food.^[14][10]
4. (regional, building) A piece of wood added to a beam that is too short.^[4]

Word family

• iescos

Related words

• Latin ēsca

Usage notes

The plural iești is rare and nearly out of use.^[2][4] A (se) face iască means to dry up, or to grow very thin.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. iască
3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 485
4. ^ 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, 1101
5. ^ 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. iască
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2913
8. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 40
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 153
10. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 612
11. ^ 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. 372
12. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 480
13. ^ 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. 269
14. ^ 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. iască
15. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. iască