lumină

Forms

lumină f (plural lumini)^[1] The Psaltirea Voronețeană (c. 1551–1558) writes it with /r/ for /n/, lumiră.^[2] Old texts also have the plurals lumine and luminuri.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lūmina, the plural of lūmen (“light”), taken as a feminine singular.^[5][3][1][6] The stress moved from the first syllable to the second;^[5][7] Ciorănescu suggests a confusion with the suffix -ină of albină and tulpină, and Tiktin compares rădăcină and căpățână.^[5][7] Candrea and Densusianu proposed instead a Latin *lūminīna, a view Ciorănescu finds unconvincing.^[5][8] Wikționar suggests a Romanian formation on the old sense of lume, “light”.^[9] The Latin noun belongs with lūx and lūna to Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light”).^[10]

South of the Danube the word is Aromanian lunjinã, also lunină.^[1][5][6] Graur instead derives the noun from the verb lumina, which he takes from lūminō;^[11][5] Ciorănescu treats the verb as a Romanian derivative of the noun.^[11][5] From Romanian comes Modern Greek λουμίνι (loumíni, “small candle”).^[5][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first date is the place name Lumineni, recorded in 1424.^[7] In Romanian texts the word appears as lumiră in the Psaltirea Voronețeană (c. 1551–1558) and as lumină “light” in the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583), in Acts 26:13.^[2][7] MDA2's first record is the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578).^[3]

Semantic evolution

From “light” the word came to mean a source of light: a flame, a lamp, and in Transylvania, the Banat, Crișana, Maramureș, Bukovina and Oltenia a candle; standard Romanian uses lumânare, from Latin lūmināre, for “candle”.^[7][4][13] The sense “pupil of the eye”, lumina ochilor, is found almost everywhere in Romanian, and Pușcariu notes parallels in northern Italy.^[5][6] From it comes drag ca lumina ochilor “as dear as the light of one's eyes”.^[4]

Figuratively the word means “knowledge, enlightenment”,.^[5][4] Technical senses include the clear space between two parts of a structure.^[4] Romanian formed luminos “bright”, luminiș “forest clearing” and luminăție, an old title of dignity.^[5]

Timeline

• 1424 – the place name Lumineni.^[7]
• c. 1551–1558 – lumiră in the Psaltirea Voronețeană.^[2]
• c. 1563–1583 – lumină in the Codicele Voronețean.^[7]
• 1570 – lumină in Coresi's psalter.^[14]
• c. 1573–1578 – in the Psaltirea Scheiană, MDA2's first record.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. light: the radiation given off by incandescent or luminescent bodies that the eye perceives, and its effect; daylight.^[4][3][1]
2. A source of light: a lamp, a flame;^[4][7] (popular) a candle.^[4][7]
3. The pupil of the eye; by extension the eye, sight; something most dear.^[4][5]
4. (figurative) Knowledge, learning, enlightenment.^[4][5]
5. (technical) The clear distance between the facing sides of two parts or of an opening.^[4]

Word family

• lumina
• luminăciune
• luminat
• luminăție
• luminător
• luminiș
• luminiță
• luminos
• străluminat

Related words

• lume
• lumânare
• lună
• Aromanian lunjinã
• Latin lūmen

Usage notes

Common phrases are a vedea lumina zilei “to be born”, a ieși la lumină “to come to light” and a pune în lumină “to bring out, to highlight”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 96:12
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, 1403
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 604
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. lumină
6. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 85
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. lumină
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. lumină
9. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 57
12. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 642
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5161
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 35:10