mac

Forms

mac m (plural maci)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic макъ (makŭ, “poppy”).^[2][3][1] DEX and MDA2 name borrowed from Bulgarian мак (mak) or Serbo-Croatian mak, and the DLR names Slavonic, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian.^[4][5][6] Hungarian mák is compared by Ciorănescu, MDA2 and the DLR,^[2][5][6] and the Hungarian etymological dictionary takes the Romanian word from South Slavic.^[7] The word also exists south of the Danube: Aromanian mac.^[2][8]

The Slavonic word continues Proto-Slavic *makъ (“poppy”), probably related to Ancient Greek μήκων (mḗkōn) (Doric μάκων (mákōn)) and Old High German māgo; it may be an old Mediterranean word.^[9][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from about 1670, in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[3] MDA2's is in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705).^[5][11]

Semantic evolution

The word names several species of the genus Papaver: the garden or opium poppy, the corn poppy (mac roșu, mac sălbatic, mac iepuresc) and small yellow mountain poppies.^[5][3][12] The seeds are used in baking, and the word also means the seed itself.^[4] Folk names extend it to other plants: macul ciorii is Hibiscus trionum.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – mac in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, the first record.^[3]
• 1705 – mac and macului in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[11]
• 1801 – Mac, Latin papaver, Hungarian mák, in Klein's dictionary.^[13]
• 1825 – macu, with oleu de macu “poppy-seed oil”, in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. poppy: any of several plants of the genus Papaver, with flowers that are usually red and small oily seeds in a capsule; opium is extracted from the fruit of one species.^[4][1]
2. (uncountable) poppy seed, used in cooking: cozonac cu mac “poppy-seed cake”.^[4][1]
3. mac-cornut: the horned poppy, Glaucium corniculatum.^[4]

Related words

• Aromanian mac
• Hungarian mák

Usage notes

DEX has a separate mac¹, an onomatopoeic interjection for the quack of a duck, often repeated (mac! mac!); the verb măcăi “to quack” is formed from it.^[4][2] Regionally, a nu zice nici mac means “not to say a word”.^[6][5] The plural is maci.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. mac
3. ^ 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. mac
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 608
5. ^ 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, 1411
6. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mac
7. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 823
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 649
9. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 3, 618
10. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. s.v. mac
12. ^ Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 161
13. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 393
14. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 367