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lamă

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word lamă

Romanian has two common words spelled lamă: one for a blade or thin plate, taken from French, and one for the South American animal, also from French but ultimately from Quechua.[1][2][3]

lamă1 blade

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1843
Borrowed from
French lame
Ultimate origin
Latin lamina
Etymology tree of lamă1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lāmina
French lame
Romanian lamă
Romanian lamură
The journey of lamă1
From the same root · lamă1
Latin lāmella ← lāmina

Pronunciation

Forms

lamă f (plural lame)[4]

Etymology

The word for the blade is borrowed from French lame.[1][2][5][4] Ciorănescu adds that it came partly by way of Modern Greek λάμα (láma),[3] and DLR and DN name Italian lama beside the French word.[6][7] The French noun, first spelled lamme around 1112, continues Latin lāmina (“thin plate, leaf of metal”), a technical word without a known etymology.[8][4] Romanian has the same Latin word in lamină and lamură, which Wiktionary calls its doublets.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1843.[5] MDA2 gives Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 as its first source, with the sense “thin plate of metal”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a thin sheet or plate of a hard material, usually metal, and 19th-century science writers used it for thin layers and crystals.[6] In 1870 Costinescu gives both the iron of a knife or edged weapon and a thin sheet of metal.[9] In the 20th century the razor blade (lamă de ras), the glass slide of the microscope and a thin film of liquid were added.[1][10] Slang uses the word for a stick of chewing gum.[11]

Timeline

  • 1843 – the first record cited by Tiktin.[5]
  • 1848 – Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.[2][6]
  • 1870 – Costinescu: the iron of a knife, a thin sheet of metal.[9]
  • 1939 – Scriban records lamă de ras “razor blade”.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A thin plate of metal, plastic or a similar material, used in machinery and devices; specifically a razor blade.[1][2]
  2. The cutting metal part of a tool or weapon; a blade.[1][12][4]
  3. A small thin glass plate on which a sample is put for the microscop; a slide.[1][7]
  4. A very thin layer of liquid, free or held between two walls.[1]
  5. (slang) A flat stick of chewing gum.[11]

lamă2 llama

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
French lama
Ultimate origin
Quechua llama

Pronunciation

Forms

lamă f (plural lame)[4]

Etymology

The word for the llama is borrowed from French lama.[1][2][4] DLR gives Spanish as well as French, and MDN names both.[6][13] The French word is from Spanish llama,[10][4] which comes from Quechua llama;[4] DA says that in Peru the word was used of all wool-bearing animals.[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 gives an undated history by Gherasim as its first source.[2] DLR's earliest quotations come from Drăghici, who tells how eight llamas were caught (au prins opt lame), and in a periodical of 1840, which notes that a live llama had been brought to Europe in 1832.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its zoological sense: the South American ruminant related to the camel, smaller and without a hump, and the genus it belongs to.[1][6] Pontbriant records an old plural lamale beside lame.[6]

Timeline

  • 1840 – a periodical describes the llama, brought alive to Europe in 1832.[6]
  • 1862 – Pontbriant has the plural lamale.[6]
  • 1931 – CADE defines it as a genus of ruminants of South America.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The llama: a South American ruminant related to the camel, smaller and without a hump, kept as a pack animal; also the genus Lama.[1][2][4]

Usage notes

MDA2 and DLR record a third, rare lamă, a Grecism from Modern Greek λάμμα (lámma): in old painting, a light part done with a thin coat of pale colour, and the pale or white paint itself; its only records are in a painting manual of before 1805.[2][6] Ciorănescu also notes the masculine lama, the Buddhist priest, from French lama.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 575
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1306
  3. ^ a b c 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. lamă
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ 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. lámă
  6. ^ 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. lamă
  7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. lamă
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 13
  10. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 726
  11. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. lamă
  12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. lamă
  13. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. lamă
  14. ^ 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. lamă
  15. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. lamă

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lamă.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/lam%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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