legământ

Forms

legământ n (plural legăminte)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ligāmentum (“band, bandage”), the view of Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the DA, DEX and MDA2.^[2][3][4][5] Ciorănescu, and the REW as a second possibility, take it instead as a Romanian formation from lega “to bind” with the suffix -mânt.^[6][7] The Aromanian form is ligãmintu (“pact, obligation”).^[6][8] Candrea and Densusianu compare Italian legamento, Old French liement and Occitan liamen.^[5]

The Latin noun is formed from ligō (“to tie, bind”) with -mentum.^[1][9] The same Latin word came into Romanian again as the learned ligament, a doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Coresi's Psalter of 1577 (Ps 118:45).^[10] Candrea and Densusianu quote it for “pact, alliance, obligation” from Dosoftei's verse Psalter as well as Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[5]

Semantic evolution

MDA2 gives the concrete senses “something that binds or ties” and, in old texts, “ligament, tendon”, beside the abstract ones: “relation, connection”, “agreement, pact, convention”, “alliance”, legământ de pace “peace treaty”, and “solemn promise, vow, obligation”.^[3] Ciorănescu adds “charm, spell”.^[6] Modern usage keeps two senses, the solemn promise and the agreement.^[2] The Lexicon de la Buda glosses it with Latin foedus and German Bündnis “alliance”.^[11]

Timeline

• 1577 – the first record, in Coresi's Psalter.^[10]
• 1673 – in Dosoftei's verse Psalter.^[5]
• 1705 – in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[5]
• 1825 – “alliance” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A solemn promise, a vow, a commitment to do something: Și-a ținut legământul.^[2][3]
2. An agreement, covenant, convention.^[2][3]
3. (old) A tie, bond or relation; a ligament.^[3][12]

Related words

• lega
• ligament
• Aromanian ligãmintu

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 583
3. ^ 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, 1338
4. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 83
5. ^ a b c d e Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
6. ^ 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. lega
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5023
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 626
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 118:45
11. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 347
12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 736