jenant

Forms

jenant m or n (feminine singular jenantă, masculine plural jenanți, feminine/neuter plural jenante)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French gênant (“embarrassing, troublesome”), the present participle of gêner (“to bother, to embarrass”).^[2][3][4][1] DA treats it under the verb jena, from the same French verb.^[5] The French verb continues Middle French genner and Old French gehisner, a derivative of gehine (“torture to obtain a confession; distress”), which is of Frankish origin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929 glosses it “uncomfortable”.^[6] DA quotes Cezar Petrescu in the newspaper Curentul of 17 September 1930, where it means “annoying”.^[5] MDA2's first record is Călinescu's Enigma Otiliei in the edition of 1946.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The early dictionaries define it as “causing discomfort”: “uncomfortable” in Șăineanu, “annoying, awkward” in CADE.^[6][7] Scriban's example is situațiune jenantă “an awkward situation”.^[8] Later dictionaries put first the feeling of jenă “embarrassment” that it causes, and add “unpleasant” and “painful to watch”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1929 – jenant “uncomfortable” in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[6]
• 1930 – jenantă “annoying” in an article by Cezar Petrescu.^[5]
• 1931 – CADE marks it as a recent loan.^[7]
• 1946 – Călinescu's Enigma Otiliei, MDA2's first record.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. embarrassing: causing a feeling of jenă.^[2][3][1] A fost o tăcere jenantă la masă.^[2]
2. Annoying, unpleasant.^[2][4]
3. awkward, painful to watch; also as an adverb, awkwardly.^[2][3]

Related words

• jenă
• jena
• French gênant

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 565
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1280
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. jenant
5. ^ a b c 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. jena
6. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 348
7. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. jenant
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 713