mustos

Forms

mustos m or n (feminine singular mustoasă, masculine plural mustoși, feminine/neuter plural mustoase)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian must (“must, grape juice”) + -os.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The noun is from Latin mustum.^[7]

The REW instead derives the adjective directly from Vulgar Latin *mustōsus, and Ciorănescu reports that view.^[8][7] Candrea and Densusianu also start from the Latin adjective, and Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[9][1] The Latin form is supported by Aromanian mustos “juicy”, which Papahagi derives from it, and by Italian mostoso, Spanish mostoso and Occitan mostos.^[10][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1703, with the sense “juicy”.^[5] MDA2 takes its first record from Budai-Deleanu's lexicon (1818).^[3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes fruit full of juice, then trees full of sap and wood full of water.^[3][4] Applied to soil it means rich and fertile, and figuratively plentiful: a calendar of 1844 has the saying „Rusalii ploioase, culesuri mustoase” “a rainy Whitsun, juicy harvests”.^[4] In modern prose it describes savoury language, expressions full of meaning.^[3][11]

Timeline

• 1703 – Tiktin's first record.^[5]
• 1818 – Budai-Deleanu's lexicon.^[3]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda glosses it as rich in must and juicy.^[12]
• 1844 – the saying „Rusalii ploioase, culesuri mustoase” in a calendar.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of fruit) juicy, full of juice, succulent.^[2][1]
2. (of soil) Rich, fertile.^[2][3]
3. (of trees) Full of sap;^[3] (of wood) full of water.^[3]
4. (figurative, of words) Savoury, pithy, rich in meaning.^[3][11]

Related words

• must
• Aromanian mustos

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 685
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, 84
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mustos
5. ^ 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. mustós
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 844
7. ^ 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. must
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 718
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. mustos
12. ^ 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. 409