lăți

Forms

lăți (third-person singular present lățește, past participle lățit), 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian lat (“wide”) + -i.^[2][3][4][5] Ciorănescu compares Latin lātēscō (“to become broad”), after Pușcariu (article 48) and Candrea–Densusianu (956).^[5] Candrea–Densusianu reconstruct Vulgar Latin *latiō in place of the classical verb, and Șăineanu gives the classical form as the source.^[6][7] The Latin verb is formed on lātus (“broad”).^[8] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1640, in Grigore Ureche's chronicle of Moldavia, and MDA2 cites the same chronicle.^[9][4] The early sense is to make or become wide, to spread over a larger area.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From widening and flattening (flax is beaten flat with a mallet before scutching) the verb passed to spreading in all directions, as Cantemir writes of the Nile's islands.^[9][3] The reflexive came to mean to spread, of news, fame and customs, and Coșbuc has Christ spreading his word.^[9][10][2] Rarely, of persons, a se lăți is to lie flat on the ground.^[11] In the Moldovan usage Stati records it means to roll dough thin.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1640 – in Grigore Ureche's chronicle, the first record.^[9][4]
• 1688 – lăți in the Bucharest Bible, Genesis 28:14.^[13]
• 1801 – in Klein's dictionary, glossed with Latin extendo.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To make or become wider, broader or flatter; to widen, flatten.^[2][1]
2. To stretch out in all directions; to extend, enlarge.^[2][4]
3. (reflexive, figurative) To spread, propagate: vestea s-a lățit repede “the news spread fast”.^[2][10]

Related words

• lățime
• lărgi

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 581
3. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lăți
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, 1329
5. ^ a b 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. lat
6. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. lăți
7. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 357
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. lățí
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. lăți
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 735
12. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 162
13. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 28:14
14. ^ 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. 388