măcina

Forms

măcina (present macin, third-person singular macină, past participle măcinat), 1st conjugation.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin māchinō (“to grind”), the Late Latin verb formed on Latin māchina (“machine; mill”).^[3][1][4] The classical verb was the deponent māchinor (“to devise, contrive”), which Tiktin, the DLR and DEX give as the etymon.^[5][6][2] Pascu notes that the sense “to grind” is that of Late Latin, and Wiktionary dates the non-deponent verb from the 6th century.^[7][1] The noun is an early loan from Ancient Greek μαχανά (makhaná, “device, machine”), the Doric form.^[8][1]

The verb survives in all four branches: Aromanian matsin, Megleno-Romanian mațin and Istro-Romanian mǫțiru.^[3][7][9] The Romance cognates include Italian macinare, Dalmatian maknur and Sardinian maginare.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a Gospel text of 1551–1553, at Matthew 24:41, the women grinding at the mill.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is grinding grain into flour.^[2][6] Neculce writes of grain taken to the Siret to be ground.^[6] The verb widened to crushing any solid matter, and figuratively to wearing away and ruining.^[2][10] A reflexive a se măcina means to crumble or weather, said of rock and walls.^[5][2] Figuratively a worry grinds a person, and one grinds a thought by turning it over.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – first record, in a Gospel text (Matthew 24:41).^[5]
• 1688 – măcina and măcinat in the Bucharest Bible.^[11]
• c. 1743 – măcina in Neculce's chronicle.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To grind grain into flour with millstones or rollers, or other matter into powder.^[2][10]
2. To crush, to crumble, to wear away, also reflexive: stâncile se macină “the rocks are crumbling”.^[2]
3. (figurative) To torment, to consume.^[2][10]
4. (figurative) To ponder at length, to ruminate.^[2]

Word family

• măcinat
• măciniș
• măcinătură
• măcinare

Usage notes

The stress moves in the present: macin, macină.^[2] Expressions include a măcina făină “to do work already done” and altă făină se macină la moară “things have changed”.^[10] A proverb runs două pietre tari nu pot măcina bine “two hard stones don't grind well”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 626
3. ^ a b c 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. măcina
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5206
5. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. măcina
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. măcina
7. ^ a b Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 114
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 186
10. ^ 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, 1446
11. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Numbers 11:8