iederă

Forms

iederă f (plural iedere)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin hedera (“ivy”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian eadiri and Megleno-Romanian iadră.^[2][3][6] Its Romance cognates include Italian edera, Occitan edra, French lierre, Spanish hiedra and Portuguese hera.^[2][7]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[8] The ancients linked it with the verb in prehendō (“to seize”), because ivy clings to whatever it climbs; de Vaan finds this connection with the root Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to seize, grasp”) possible but unproven.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the personal name Mihaiu Iaderă of 1559.^[9] As a common noun MDA2 and DA first cite it in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, a Romanian–Latin glossary of about 1650–1700.^[4][10] Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705) has walls covered with ivy, „zidiuri cu iederă acoperiți”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the evergreen climber Hedera helix.^[10][5] Folk usage applied it to other plants: rhododendron (Rhododendron kotschyi, otherwise smirdar) and lesser periwinkle.^[10][4] Compounds name further species: iederă albă (Daphne blagayana) and iederă cu cinci foi, the Virginia creeper.^[4][5]

In poetry ivy stands for clinging attachment: Eminescu likens a whole life bound to one idea to ivy bound to a tree.^[10] In Maramureș it is the refrain plant of carols and a folk remedy.^[11]

Timeline

• 1559 – the personal name Mihaiu Iaderă.^[9]
• c. 1650–1700 – first record as a common noun, in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[4][10]
• 1705 – iederă in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[10]
• 19th century – in Eminescu's poetry.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. ivy: an evergreen creeping or climbing shrub with glossy leaves and small yellowish-green flowers, often grown as an ornamental (Hedera helix).^[5][4][1]
2. (regional) Rhododendron (Rhododendron kotschyi).^[4][10]
3. (regional) Lesser periwinkle.^[4][10]

Related words

• Aromanian eadiri
• Latin hedera

Usage notes

Regional and older variants are ederă, iedere and iadără.^[4][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. iederă
3. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 66
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1105
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 487
6. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 429
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4092
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. iederă
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. iederă
11. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2011), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din Maramureș, Baia Mare: Ethnologica, p. s.v. iederă