mas

Forms

mas n (plural masuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mānsum (“a stay”), the supine of maneō (“to remain, stay”), according to Tiktin, MDA2, the DLR and DEX.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Ciorănescu takes it instead as a Romanian derivative of mânea “to spend the night”, the verb inherited from the same Latin verb: the same form is also that verb's past participle.^[6][7] He notes that Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu derive the noun directly from Latin.^[6][8]

Aromanian mas has a narrower sense, “place where the flock rests at night”.^[9][8] Pușcariu compares Italian maso, Friulian mas, Occitan mas, Catalan mas and Old French mes.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to a document of 1638.^[2] In the Moldavian chronicles the word means a halt for the night: Grigore Ureche wrote „S-au așezat acolo de mas” “they settled there for the night”, and Miron Costin wrote of locusts that „undea cădea la mas, ca albinele de gros dzăcea” “where they came down for the night, they lay as thick as bees”.^[4][2] MDA2 gives Dosoftei's lives of the saints (1682–1686) as its first record.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word names the act of stopping somewhere for the night, then the place where one spends the night, and the shelter given to a traveller.^[3][5] It belongs to Moldavia and Transylvania, and DEX marks it as regional.^[3][5] Old set phrases are a se așeza de mas and a cădea la mas “to stop for the night”;^[3][4] a primi de mas means “to put someone up for the night”.^[3][4] In Maramureș a se duce cu caii de mas meant taking the horses out to graze all night.^[10]

Timeline

• 1638 – the first record, in a document.^[2]
• c. 1642–1647 – de mas in Grigore Ureche's chronicle.^[4]
• 1682–1686 – mas in Dosoftei's lives of the saints.^[3][4]
• 1892 – are să ne fie masul în pădure “we'll spend the night in the forest” in Creangă.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) A halt for the night; staying somewhere overnight.^[5][3]
2. (regional) The place where one stops for the night.^[5][3]
3. (regional) lodging for the night: a cere loc de mas “to ask for a bed for the night”.^[5][4]

Related words

• mânea
• rămâne
• Aromanian mas

Usage notes

Mas is also the past participle of mânea: unde ai mas? “where did you spend the night?”.^[11][6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. mas
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1438
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mas
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 621
6. ^ 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. mânea
7. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. mas
8. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 89
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 657
10. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. mas
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. mas