mizerie

Forms

mizerie f (plural mizerii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin miseria (“wretchedness, misfortune”) and in part borrowed from French misère, a 19th-century neologism with two models, as DEX, DLR and DILF give it.^[2][3][4] MDA2 also names both, while the neologism dictionaries give the Latin word and compare the French one.^[5][6][7] Wiktionary gives only the French word, and Tiktin gives the source as New Latin and Italian miseria.^[1][8] The Latin noun is formed on miser (“wretched, poor”) with the suffix -ia.^[9][5][10] French borrowed it from Latin in the early 12th century, first as miserie.^[11]

The same Latin adjective lives on in Romanian words inherited or formed much earlier: Old Romanian measer (“poor”), from which meserie (“trade, craft”) was formed, and mișel from Latin misellus.^[12] mizerabil is a later borrowing of miserābilis.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Cezar Bolliac in 1835.^[8] DLR quotes him in the plural, on the task of poetry to paint the passions, the miseries and the grandeur of mankind: „patimilor, mizeriilor și măririlor umanității”.^[3] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) has it as miserie, with the Latin miseria, glossed as an unhappy state, great poverty and calamity.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The word came in with the sense of a pitiable, unhappy state, and soon narrowed to extreme poverty: DLR's quotations run from Alecu Russo, MDA2's first record, and Filimon to Bogza, who ties poverty to dirt and rags.^[5][3] From poverty it passed to its outward signs, so that it now also means squalor, dirt and disorder.^[2][1] In the plural it names the troubles, worries and wants of life, and colloquially the petty harassment one person causes another: a-i face cuiva mizerii.^[5][10] Șăineanu (1929) and MDA2 also record the sense “trifle, something of no value”.^[14][5]

Timeline

• 1835 – first record, in Cezar Bolliac.^[8][3]
• 1848 – miserie in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[13]
• 1862 – listed by Pontbriant.^[3]
• 1870 – listed by Costinescu.^[3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu records the colloquial sense “trifle”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. Extreme poverty; a wretched, pitiable situation.^[2] De mizerie means poor, meagre, not enough to live on: un salariu de mizerie “a starvation wage”.^[2][15]
2. The outward look of great poverty: squalor, dirt or disorder.^[2][1]
3. (often in the plural) Whatever causes trouble, hardship, suffering or worry; a failing that brings trouble.^[2][5] A-i face cuiva mizerii means to make life hard for someone, to harass them.^[2][5]
4. (colloquial) A trifle, a worthless thing.^[5][14]

Related words

• mizerabil
• mizer
• meserie
• mișel
• Latin miseria
• French misère

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 662
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mizerie
4. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. mizerie
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 31
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. mizerie
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. mizerie
8. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. mizerie
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 818
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 63
13. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. miserie
14. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 404
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 98