muc

Forms

muc m (plural muci) “snot”; n (plural mucuri) “snuff of a wick, stub”^[1][2] MDA2 also records a neuter singular mucure.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mūcus (“mucus, snot”) or a variant of it, but the sources differ on the path.^[4][1][2] DEX takes the singular as remade from the plural muci, from the plural mucci of the variant form, which MDA2 also gives.^[1][3] Ciorănescu derives it straight from the singular and does not accept a singular rebuilt from the plural, an idea of Byck and Graur.^[4] Tiktin gives both Latin forms.^[5]

It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian muc and Megleno-Romanian muc, both mostly used in the plural, muți and muți.^[4][6][7] The Romance cognates include Italian moccio and Italian moccolo (“candle end”), Occitan moc, Catalan moc, Old French moche, Spanish moco and Portuguese monco; Albanian mük (“mould”) is also compared.^[4][8] The Latin word comes from Proto-Indo-European *(s)me/ouk-o- (“snot”), also behind Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa, “mucus”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1519, in the Slavonic-Romanian documents.^[5] In Mardarie's lexicon of 1649 muc glosses a Slavonic word for the snuff of a candle, and in a lexicon of c. 1660–1670, which MDA2 cites as the first record, mucii renders the Slavonic for nasal mucus.^[10][11][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “nasal mucus” is mostly used in the plural muci.^[1][5] The neuter with the plural mucuri names the charred tip of a burning wick, the stub of a candle and the butt of a cigarette.^[1][4][5] Candrea and Densusianu compare Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa), which also means both “mucus” and “lamp snuff”, and Aromanian has the snuff sense too.^[12][6] Tiktin also records the word for the wattle of a turkey.^[5]

Many expressions are colloquial: a-i pica mucul undeva “to keep going back to a place”, a-i pica mucii după cineva “to be smitten with someone”, a-i ajunge mucul la deget “to be at the end of one's means”.^[1][5] According to Ciorănescu, Hungarian mukuc was borrowed from Romanian.^[4]

Timeline

• 1519 – the first record, in a Slavonic-Romanian document.^[5]
• 1649 – muc “candle snuff” in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[10]
• c. 1660–1670 – mucii “snot” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[11][3]
• c. 1664–1693 – the plural mucuri in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (masculine, mostly plural muci) Nasal mucus, snot: Șterge-ți mucii!^[1][3][2]
2. (neuter, plural mucuri) The charred tip of the wick of a lamp, candle or icon lamp; by extension, the whole wick.^[1]
3. (neuter) The stub left of a candle or of a smoked cigarette; a cigarette butt.^[1][4]
4. The wattle of a turkey.^[5]

Word family

• mucări
• mucărie
• mucarniță
• mucoare
• mucos

Related words

• mucoasă
• mucoză
• mugur

Usage notes

The two genders divide the senses: masculine muci “snot”, neuter mucuri “wick ends, stubs”.^[1][4] Nu dai nici mucii pe el “you wouldn't give your snot for him” is said of a worthless person.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 679
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ 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. 2, 68
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. muc
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. muc
6. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 706
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 200
8. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 170
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. muc
11. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. mucii
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. muc
13. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. mucuri