Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word iunie

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1472 a Slavonic charter of the Romanian principalities More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Old Church Slavonic июнии
Ultimate origin
Latin Iūnō

Pronunciation

Forms

iunie m (uncountable)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic июнии (ijunii), the name of the month in the Slavonic of the church and the chancery.[2][3][4][1][5] Tiktin names Greek beside the Slavonic word.[6] The Old Church Slavonic texts also have the form июнь (ijunĭ).[7]

The Slavonic word came from Ἰούνιος (Ioúnios), which was borrowed from Latin iūnius, the month of June.[8][1] The Latin name is an adjective formed on Iūnō (“Juno”).[9] Scriban derived the Romanian word straight from Latin and compared Italian giugno, French juin, Spanish junio and Portuguese junho; the other dictionaries take it from Slavonic.[10][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1472, from a Slavonic charter of the Romanian principalities.[6] In Romanian texts it first appears in Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581: „în luna lu Iunie” “in the month of June”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has only ever named the month; the folk name is cireșar.[3][2] The Buda Lexicon of 1825 glosses it with cireșeriu, Latin Iunius, Hungarian Sz-Ivánhava and German Brachmonath.[11] A Latinized variant iuniu was also used;[2][5] Ciorănescu derives it from Modern Greek Ιούνιος (Ioúnios).[2][5] A form iuni, from German Juni, was used in Bukovina and Transylvania.[2]

Timeline

  • 1472 – in a Slavonic charter, the first record.[6]
  • 1581 – Iunie in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.[2][4]
  • 1825 – in the Buda Lexicon, glossed with cireșeriu.[11]
  • 1893 – in Damé's Romanian–French dictionary.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. June, the sixth month of the year; cireșar.[3][4]
  • iulie
  • cireșar
  • Latin iūnius

Usage notes

The name is invariable: în iunie, pe 20 iunie.[3][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. iunie
  3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 527
  4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1172
  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. iunie
  6. ^ 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. iunie
  7. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  8. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 666
  11. ^ 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. 331
  12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. iunie
  13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. iunie

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

“Iunie.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/iunie. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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