lună

Forms

lună f (plural luni)^[1] The Psaltirea Hurmuzaki writes the word with /r/ for /n/, lunra, in nine passages, among them Psalm 8:4.^[2][3] Old texts also have the plural lune.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lūna (“moon”).^[5][4][1][6] The DÉRom counts it among the words inherited from Proto-Romance.^[3] The Latin word is Old Latin losna, from Proto-Italic *louksnā, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂, a derivative of *lewk- (“light, bright”); it is related to lūx and lūmen.^[1][7] The sense “month” already existed in popular Latin, as inscriptions show.^[5]

The word survives in all four branches of Romanian: Aromanian lunã, Megleno-Romanian lună and Istro-Romanian lurę.^[5][8][9] Its Romance cognates include Italian luna, Spanish luna, Occitan luna, French lune, Catalan lluna and Portuguese lua.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest form is lunra in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, in the psalm verse on the moon and the stars (Psalm 8:4).^[2][3] MDA2's first record is the Cuvente den bătrâni collection of about 1550, and Tiktin gives 1567.^[4][10] Coresi's psalter of 1570 has lună.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word names both the moon and the month, as in Latin.^[5][1] Ciorănescu compares the Romanian phrase lună de miere “honeymoon” with French lune de miel;^[5] Ciorănescu also records the sense “menstruation”.^[5] Phrases describe the moon's phases: lună nouă “new moon”, lună plină “full moon” and, in folk speech, lună veche “waning moon”.^[12][10]

Idioms use the moon for what is out of reach or unreal: a promite luna de pe cer “to promise the moon”, a fi căzut din lună “to be out of touch with reality”, câte-n lună și-n stele “every possible thing”.^[12][10] As an adverb, lună means “spotless, gleaming”: o bucătărie curată lună “a spotless kitchen”.^[10][12] Derivatives include lunar, after Latin lūnāris, and lunatic, from Latin lūnāticus.^[5]

Timeline

• early 16th century – lunra in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[2][3]
• c. 1550 – lună in the Cuvente den bătrâni, MDA2's first record.^[4]
• 1567 – Tiktin's first dated record.^[10]
• 1570 – lună in Coresi's psalter.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The moon, Earth's natural satellite, which lights it at night;^[12][4][1] lună nouă “new moon”, lună plină “full moon”.^[12][4][1]
2. A month, one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year;^[12][1][10] lună de miere “honeymoon”.^[12][1][10]
3. (colloquial) menstruation.^[5]
4. (adverbially) Spotless, gleaming: o bucătărie curată lună “a spotless kitchen”.^[12][10]

Word family

• lunătăci
• lunăriță

Related words

• lumină
• Aromanian lunã
• Latin lūna

Usage notes

The plural luni is used for the months;^[12][10] pe lună means “monthly” and luni de zile “for months”.^[12][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 8:4
3. ^ a b c d Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
4. ^ 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, 1404
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. lună
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5163
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 642
9. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. lună
11. ^ 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 71:5
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 605