miză

Forms

miză f (plural mize)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French mise (“stake; a putting”).^[2][3][4][1] The French word is the feminine past participle of mettre (“to put”), used as a noun.^[5][6] Ciorănescu compares Modern Greek μίζα (míza).^[2] The verb miza “to stake” is a separate loan, from miser.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the word to G. A. Polizu's Romanian–German dictionary of 1857, with the sense “stake in a game of chance”.^[3] The Academy dictionary cites it after Polizu from Pontbriant, Damé and Laurian and Massim.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the sum each player puts down in a game of chance, which goes to the winner; it is often used with a pune “to put”.^[3][7][4] Scriban also records the sense “money put into a business” and the phrase miza în scenă “staging (of a play)”, after French mise en scène.^[5] The figurative sense, “what is at stake, the object of a dispute”, is quoted in the Academy dictionary from a newspaper of 1948.^[7][4][8]

Timeline

• 1857 – first record, in Polizu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[3]
• 1948 – the figurative sense “what is at stake” in a newspaper.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stake, an ante: the sum each player puts down in a game of chance, which the winner takes.^[4][3][1]
2. (figurative) What is at stake; the object of a dispute.^[4][3][8]

Word family

• miza

Usage notes

MDA2 and the Academy dictionary also list an old miză as a variant of mijă “a moment's glimpse”, a different word.^[3][9][7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. miză
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. 2, 31
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 662
5. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 818
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. miză
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. miză
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. miză
9. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 11