lăun

Forms

lăun m (plural lăuni)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown: DLR and MDA2 label it of unknown etymology, and Ciorănescu calls it obscure.^[2][3][4] Ciorănescu thinks it is probably related to the verb la (“to wash”), since the plant grows in still water, but he finds the formation unclear.^[4] Bogrea derived it from Vulgar Latin *lavōnem (“washhouse”), from lavō (“to wash”);^[4][1] Ciorănescu prefers a Romanian formation with the expressive suffix -un, as in găunos.^[4][1] Wiktionary also records a less likely derivation from Latin leōnem (“lion”).^[1] Ciorănescu compares the Oltenian river name ⟨Lăunele⟩, for which Iordan proposed that Latin source.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record MDA2 and DLR give is a regional source that both cite from its seventh volume, where it names the water-milfoil.^[3][2] The same source records it for the fine mud at the bottom of still water.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word is regional: DLR places it in Oltenia, MDA2 in Muntenia.^[2][3] It names two species of water-milfoil, Myriophyllum spicatum and Myriophyllum verticillatum, and also the silt that settles at the bottom of still or slow water.^[2][3] DLR keeps the two senses apart by the plural: lăuni for the plant, lăune for the silt.^[2] The Oltenian glossary quoted by DLR shows the plant chopped from the pond as duck feed.^[2] The adjective lăunos “mixed with foreign matter, dirty”, said of threshed grain, is formed from it.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) water-milfoil, an aquatic plant (Myriophyllum spicatum and Myriophyllum verticillatum).^[2][3][1]
2. (regional) Fine clayey silt at the bottom of still or slow water; mâl.^[2][3]

Word family

• lăunos

Usage notes

DLR and MDA2 record the regional variants lăon, loon and luon, and Glosar Oltenia has loon.^[2][3]

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 j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lăun
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1330
4. ^ a b c d e 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. lăun