jucărie

Forms

jucărie f (plural jucării)^[1] The older form jucăreie appears in the Moldavian Pravila of 1646: „Doi cuconi giucându-ș[i] cu giucăreile sale” “two children playing with their toys”.^[2] Tiktin records the diminutives jucărea, jucărică and jucărioară;^[3] jucărea appears in Coșbuc: „Zărind frumoasa jucăreie” “catching sight of the pretty toy”.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian juca (“to play”) + -ărie, with a suffix of abstract nouns.^{[4][2][5][3][1]} Scriban derives it from the noun joc instead.^[6] The verb continues Latin iocor (“to jest”).^[1][7]

A parallel formation with another suffix exists south of the Danube: Aromanian giucãreauã.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Coresi's Molitvenic of 1564.^[3] The early senses were a jest, a trifle and a game; the Romanian Herodotus of 1645 already has „multe giucării” “many toys”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From a jest or a trifle the word moved to the concrete toy, used mostly in the plural.^[2] Neculce's chronicle has the phrase a strica jucăria cuiva “to spoil someone's game”, that is, to foil their plans.^[2][5][3]

In the 19th century it took the figurative sense of someone or something at the mercy of a greater force: C. Negruzzi writes „El era o adevărată jucărie a naturii” “he was a real plaything of nature”, and a ship becomes jucăria vânturilor “the plaything of the winds”.^[2][3] Underworld slang uses it for a pistol.^[8]

Timeline

• 1564 – first record, in Coresi's Molitvenic.^[3]
• 1645 – „multe giucării” in the Romanian Herodotus.^[2]
• 1646 – giucăreile in the Moldavian Pravila.^[2]
• 1688 – jucării in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1776 – jucăreaie in a Menaion.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A toy: an object children play with: Copilul și-a strâns jucăriile în cutie.^[4]
2. (figurative) A person or thing at someone's mercy; a marionetă, păpușă.^[4]
3. (figurative) A trifle, a thing of no importance; fleac, bagatelă.^[4]
4. (dated) A jest; a children's game.^[5]
5. (slang) A pistol.^[8]

Related words

• juca
• joc
• jucător

Usage notes

A strica jucăria cuiva “to foil someone's plans” is marked as old by MDA2.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. jucărie
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. jucărie
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 567
5. ^ 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, 1289
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 718
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1288
8. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. jucărie
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Avvacum 1:10