neg

Forms

neg m (plural negi)^[1] A regional variant is nec.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin naevus (“mole, birthmark”).^{[4][5][2][3][6][1]} Its cognates include Italian neo (“mole”) and the Sienese form niego.^[4][7][8] The ⟨g⟩ is unexpected;^[6][4] Tiktin and Ciorănescu compare fagure, negură, rug and uger, which show the same consonant.^[6][4] Pușcariu explained the word as a back-formation from the diminutive negel, which he traced to a Latin diminutive;^[4][7] Ciorănescu finds this hard to accept, and the REW says that both the ⟨g⟩ and the back-formation raise doubts.^[4][7]

The origin of the Latin word itself is unclear: the OLD connects it with Gnaeus, and Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”), as a mark one is born with.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to the Bucharest Bible of 1688, which forbids offering an animal that has warts (Leviticus 22:22): „având negi” “having warts”.^[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense “wart”; by analogy it also names a knot or outgrowth on a plant.^[2][3] Tiktin describes negel as the Transylvanian and Moldavian form, and Scriban says that neg is western and negel eastern.^[6][10] Neculce writes in the 18th century of a man who was born with a negel on his nose.^[6] Constantinescu derives many nicknames and personal names from the word, a mark of the face, but finds them hard to separate from names built on Old Church Slavonic нѣга (něga).^[11]

Timeline

• 1688 – negi “warts” in the Bucharest Bible, the first record.^[6][2]
• c. 1743 – the diminutive negel in Neculce's chronicle.^[12][6]
• 1823 – the adjective negos “warty” in Bobb's dictionary.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. wart: a small, round, painless growth on the skin.^[5][2][1]
2. By analogy, a knot or outgrowth on a part of a plant.^[2][3]

Word family

• negel
• negos
• negelariță
• negelos

Related words

• Latin naevus

Usage notes

In the east the diminutive negel is the usual word.^[10][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 124
3. ^ 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. neg
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. neg
5. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 702
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. neg
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5807
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
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. 862
11. ^ Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. neg
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 125
13. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. negós