moleață

Forms

moleață f (plural molețe)^[1] The older form moleță: „[Căldurile] aduc pe om într-un fel de moleță foarte plăcută” “the heat brings one into a very pleasant kind of languor”, in Dacia literară.^[2] A regional neuter moleț also occurs.^[3][2]

Etymology

The Academy dictionaries derive it from Romanian moale + -eață.^[2][3][1] moale is from Latin mollis (“soft”).^[4]

Candrea and Densusianu instead took it from Latin mollitia (“softness”), with Italian mollezza, French mollesse, Occitan molesa, Catalan mollesa and Portuguese molleza.^[5] The REW lists a Transylvanian ⟨moleață⟩ “soft, marshy meadow”, after Giuglea, under the Latin word.^[6] Ciorănescu treats it as a Romanian derivative and compares Spanish mollez, after Giuglea.^[4] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in the writings of Ion Budai-Deleanu, about 1800, with the sense “languor, softness”.^[7] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 has moleță both for softness and for wet, thawing weather.^[8] MDA2's first record is a passage of Dacia literară in its 1859 edition.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word was always rare.^[3][2] Its literary sense, “languor, limpness”, is now obsolete.^[2] In regional speech it names a soft thing, especially a soft rock that crumbles easily, and an unidentified plant.^[2][3] Candrea and Densusianu record the plant as a soft grass, after Giuglea.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1800 – moleață in Ion Budai-Deleanu, the first record.^[7]
• 1825 – moleță “softness; wet weather” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[8]
• 1859 – moleță “languor” in the edition of Dacia literară.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) languor, softness; moleșeală.^[3][2][1]
2. (regional) A soft thing; specifically a soft rock that breaks easily.^[3][2]
3. (regional) An unidentified plant.^[3][2]

Related words

• moale
• molicel
• moleșeală
• Latin mollitia

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 Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. moleață
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. 2, 44
4. ^ a b 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. moale
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. moleață
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5650
7. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. moleáță
8. ^ a b 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. 398