măcel

Forms

măcel n (plural măceluri)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Romanian măcelări (“to slaughter”), according to DEX, MDA2 and the Academy dictionary.^[2][3][4] That verb is formed on măcelar (“butcher”), which goes back to Latin macellārius (“butcher”).^[3][5] The Latin word is formed on macellum (“meat market”), itself borrowed from Ancient Greek μάκελλον (mákellon, “enclosure, market”).^[1][6]

Others take the noun from elsewhere.^[7][8] Pușcariu traced it straight to the Latin noun.^[7][7] Tiktin and Candrea saw a literary loan from Italian macello (“slaughterhouse; slaughter”), Tiktin with the influence of the word for “butcher”;^[8][7][9] CADE also gives the Italian word.^[8][7][9] Ciorănescu calls the origin doubtful: a Latin source is possible, but the word is missing from the old texts and is not a popular word.^[7] Italian already had the sense “massacre of people” before 1370.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Bobb's dictionary of 1823, which has the form macelie.^[8] MDA2 and the Academy dictionary begin with Alecu Russo: „Acele câmpii ce fumegau de pârjol și de măcel” “those plains smoking with fire and slaughter”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the first it has meant the slaughter of many people, above all in war.^[4][11] Alecsandri wrote of „acele măceluri crâncene ce au roșit cu sânge de atâtea ori malurile Dunării” “those fierce massacres that so often reddened the banks of the Danube with blood”.^[8] Figuratively it stands for a war or a bloody battle.^[2][4]

The older words of the family are attested earlier than the noun: măcelar, in Dosoftei also an executioner, and măcelări both appear in his lives of the saints of 1682–1686.^[12][3] Ciorănescu dates măcelăresc to Radu Popescu at the start of the 18th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 1682–1686 – măcelări “to slaughter” and măcelar in Dosoftei's lives of the saints.^[3][12]
• early 18th century – măcelăresc in Radu Popescu.^[7]
• 1823 – măcel (and macelie) in Bobb's dictionary, the first record.^[8]
• 1870 – Costinescu defines it as killing, great slaughter in a war.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bloody attack, usually on a defenceless crowd; mass killing, massacre, carnage: Satul a fost martorul unui măcel.^[2][3]
2. (figurative) A war, a bloody fight.^[2][3]

Related words

• măcelar
• măcelări
• măcelărie
• măcelăreasă
• Italian macello

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 626
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1446
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. măcel
5. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. măcelar
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. măcel
8. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. măcel
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. măcel
10. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 54
12. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. măcelar