lemn

Forms

lemn n (plural lemne)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lignum (“wood, firewood”).^{[2][3][1][4][5]} The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian lemnu, Megleno-Romanian lemu and Istro-Romanian lęmnę.^[2][6][7] The Romance cognates include Italian legno, Spanish leño and Portuguese lenho.^[2][4]

De Vaan derives the Latin word either from the root Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect”), as wood gathered for the fire, or from *legh- (“to lie”), as fallen wood; he finds both equally possible.^[8] Wiktionary gives *leǵ-no- (“that which is collected”).^[1]

Ciorănescu points out that the sense “tree” existed in Late Latin and exists in Italian, and he rejects as groundless the view of Șăineanu and Rosetti that it came from Old Church Slavonic дрѣво (drěvo, “tree, wood”).^[2] Some derivatives have been traced straight to Latin: lemnos to lignōsus and lemnar (a carpenter) to lignārius (Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the REW, the DA); Ciorănescu prefers Romanian formations with the suffixes -os and -ar.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the plural lemne in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, written about 1500–1520 (Psalm 73:7).^[9] MDA2 and Tiktin cite the Codicele Voronețean (2 Peter 2:22).^[3][10] In the old texts the word often means a tree: Tiktin quotes a psalter where „toate lemnele pădurii” “all the trees of the forest” rejoice.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “tree” survives in religious phrases, lemnul vieții “the tree of life” and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and in old texts for the Cross; it is now obsolete or popular.^[3][2][11] The common senses are the material of trees and the cut trunks and branches, timber and firewood (plural lemne).^[11][3] Many plant names are compounds: lemn-câinesc “privet” and lemn-dulce “liquorice”.^[11]

Idioms take wood as a type of stiffness and insensibility: a fi de lemn “to feel nothing”, a rămâne ca de lemn “to be struck dumb”, and e ger de crapă lemnele “it is freezing cold”.^[11][3] Tiktin records a dormi lemn “to sleep like a log” and e lemn “he is dead drunk”.^[10] The derived verb înlemni means “to stiffen, to be struck dumb”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – lemne in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[9]
• c. 1563–1583 – lemn in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3][10]
• 1570 – lemn in Coresi's psalter.^[9]
• c. 1573–1578 – lemnul in the Psaltirea Scheiană (Psalm 1:3).^[12]
• 1688 – lemnul and lemnului in the Bucharest Bible.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. wood: the hard tissue of trees and shrubs, used for building, as fuel and so on.^[11][1]
2. The cut trunk and branches of a tree, as timber or firewood (plural lemne); a piece of wood.^[11][3]
3. (dated, popular) A tree or shrub;^[11][3] lemnul vieții “the tree of life”.^[11][3]

Word family

• lemnuș
• lemnușcă
• lemnos
• lemnar
• lemnăreasă
• lemnărie
• înlemni
• untdelemn

Related words

• Aromanian lemnu
• Latin lignum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. lemn
3. ^ 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, 1344
4. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 83
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5034
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 625
7. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 120
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c 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 73:7
10. ^ 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. lemn
11. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 585
12. ^ 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 1:3
13. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Facerea 1:29