Etymology and origin of the Romanian word lenjerie
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1900 Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary, 3rd edition More words from the 19th century
- Borrowed from
- French lingerie
- Ultimate origin
- French lingerie
Forms
lenjerie f (plural lenjerii)[1] Popular variants are lingerie, lengerie and linjerie: „Îmi trebuia palton și linjerie” “I needed a coat and underwear” (Brăescu).[2][3]
Etymology
It is borrowed from French lingerie.[1][3][4][5][2][6] The French word is formed from linge (“linen”) with the suffix -erie.[1] Graur lists it in the family of līnum (“flax”), which Romanian inherited as in, and lenjuri comes from the French noun.[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2's first record is in the 1900 edition of Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary, in the sense “linen, underwear”.[6][2]
Semantic evolution
The word names body and bed linen together.[3][2] In slang it has also meant “a safe”.[6][2]
Timeline
- 1900 – in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.[6]
- 20th century – linjerie in Brăescu, lingerie in Bacovia.[2]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- lenjuri
- in
- French lingerie
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lenjerie
- ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 586
- ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
- ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
- ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1347
- ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Lenjerie.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/lenjerie. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·