Etymologically
Log in

lin

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word lin

lin1 tench

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1670 Anonymus Caransebesiensis
Borrowed from
Bulgarian лин
Ultimate origin
Proto-Slavic *linъ

Pronunciation

Forms

lin m (plural lini)[1]

Etymology

The word for the tench is borrowed from Bulgarian лин (lin, “tench”), according to DEX, MDA2 and the DLR.[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu and Tiktin take it as borrowed from Old Church Slavonic линь (linĭ), after Miklosich and Cihac.[5][6] The Slavic word goes back to Proto-Slavic *linъ, with cognates across Slavic such as Serbo-Croatian лињ (linj), Russian линь (linʹ) and Polish lin.[5][1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Latin–Romanian glossary of the Anonymus Caransebesiensis (about 1670), which glosses lin with Latin tinca.[6][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1670 – first record, in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.[6][8]
  • 1951 – Sadoveanu's angling memoir, MDA2's first source.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tench (Tinca tinca), a thick-bodied, slimy freshwater fish with small scales that lives in clear, shallow ponds.[2][1]

lin2 vat, trough

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1839 Vaillant's dictionary
Borrowed from
Modern Greek ληνός

Pronunciation

Forms

lin n (plural linuri)[2]

Etymology

The word for the vat is borrowed from Modern Greek ληνός (linós, “wine press, trough”).[2][3][9][4][5] Gáldi lists it in his study of the Greek loans of the Phanariote era.[10] Ciorănescu rejects a direct loan from Ancient Greek and compares Bulgarian лин (lin), which the Bulgarian etymological dictionary also derives from Greek, noting the same loan in Serbo-Croatian and Albanian.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to Vaillant's dictionary of 1839.[9] MDA2 cites Ion Ionescu's study of farming in Putna county (1869), where it is the trough in which grapes are trodden.[3]

Timeline

  • 1839 – first record, in Vaillant's dictionary.[9]
  • 1869 – in Ion Ionescu's account of farming in Putna.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A trough of wood, tin or concrete in which grapes are gathered and pressed.[2][3]
  2. A vat in which the raw material for beer or spirits is left to ferment; a vat of staves for fermenting plums for țuică.[2][3]

lin3 smooth, gentle

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1561 Coresi's Tetraevanghel
Inherited from
Latin *lenus
Ultimate origin
Latin lēnis

Pronunciation

Forms

lin m or n (feminine singular lină, masculine plural lini, feminine/neuter plural line)[1]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Vulgar Latin *lēnus (“gentle”), a popular variant of lēnis (“soft, gentle”).[2][3][5][1][4] Pușcariu argued for this variant from Italian leno, and also for a form continuing the classical adjective, shown indirectly by adjectives in ⟨-e⟩ such as repede and limpede, which also describe flowing water.[11] Its Romance cognates include Italian lene, Occitan le, Spanish len and Sardinian lenu.[5][12][1]

The noun liniște “quiet” was formed on it with the Slavic suffix -iște.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to Coresi's Tetraevanghel of 1561, in Matthew 8:26, where the sea grows calm.[13] MDA2 cites Coresi's Apostol of 1563, with the sense “even-tempered”.[3]

Semantic evolution

The oldest senses describe calm: still water and weather, and in people a mild, gentle temper, now dated.[3][13] Movement that runs evenly, without jolts, came next, and the adverb lin “gently”.[2][13] The adjective then spread to gentle slopes, soft sounds and mild light.[2] Old texts also used it as a noun, “calm, peace”: Neculce compares the moods of princes to the calm of the seas.[13][3]

Timeline

  • 1561 – first record, in Coresi's Tetraevanghel.[13]
  • 1563 – in Coresi's Apostol.[3]
  • 1589 – lin in Coresi's psalter, Psalm 106:29.[14]
  • 1760 – the diminutive linișor in a manuscript.[13]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Moving or happening evenly, without jolts and at a moderate pace; domol, potolit.[2][1]
  2. (of roads, slopes) Gently sloping, easy to climb;[2][1] (rare, of surfaces) smooth, even.[2][1]
  3. (of sounds) Soft, low;[2] (poetic, of light) mild and restful.[2]
  4. calm, quiet.[2][1]

Word family

  • liniște
  • liniști
  • liniștitor
  • neliniște
  • neliniști
  • neliniștit

Usage notes

DEX numbers the three words lin¹ “tench”, lin² “vat” and lin³ “gentle”.[2] MDA2 also records an onomatopoeic lin imitating slowly dripping water (1928).[3] The proverb apele line sunt adânci means that still waters run deep.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 593
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1370
  4. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lin
  5. ^ 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. lin
  6. ^ 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. lin 1
  7. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 3, 408
  8. ^ a b 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. lin
  9. ^ 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. lin 2
  10. ^ Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 206
  11. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 84
  12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4977
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. lin 3
  14. ^ 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 106:29

Related etymologies

  • da · also from Bulgarian
  • grijă · also from Bulgarian
  • ciudat · also from Bulgarian
  • ba · also from Bulgarian
  • război · also from Bulgarian
  • grozav · also from Bulgarian
  • păstra · also from Bulgarian
  • bolnav · also from Bulgarian
Cite this entry

“Lin.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/lin. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·