negru

Forms

negru m or n (feminine singular neagră, masculine plural negri, feminine/neuter plural negre)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin niger (“black, dark”), from its accusative nigrum.^{[2][3][1][4][5]} De Vaan considers the origin of the Latin word unknown.^[6]

The word survives in all four branches of Romanian: Aromanian negru (also negur), Megleno-Romanian negru and Istro-Romanian negru.^[2][7][8] Candrea and Densusianu note that in Aromanian it is rare, kept in some phrases and place names, the usual word for “black” being laiu.^[9][4] Its Romance cognates include Italian nero, French noir, Occitan negre, Spanish negro and Portuguese negro.^[2][5] From Romanian come Hungarian nyégra (“black sheep”) and Modern Greek νιάγκρον (niángron, “black ram”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1401, in a charter published in the Documenta Romaniae Historica; place names follow, such as Negrilești in 1409 and the stream Neagra in 1505.^[10] In Romanian texts the feminine neagră appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, and MDA2's first record is Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581.^[11][3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the colour itself, the adjective came to mean “dark, gloomy”, “dirty, unwashed” and, figuratively, “sad, grim” and “wicked, cruel”.^[12][2][10] Many set phrases are built on it: pâine neagră “brown bread”, post negru “a total fast”, preț negru “black-market price” and tusă neagră “whooping cough”.^[12][10] The DLR traces one figurative sense to French noir.^[13]

As a noun, negru names the colour, mourning clothes (a purta negru “to wear black”) and a black person.^[12][10] In Megleno-Romanian it also meant “Turkish soldier”.^[4] Place and river names with the word are common, from Negreni to Marea Neagră, the Black Sea.^[10]

Timeline

• 1401 – the first record, in a charter.^[10]
• 1409 – the place name Negrilești.^[10]
• 1505 – the stream Neagra.^[10]
• early 16th century – neagră in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[11]
• 1581 – negru in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură, MDA2's first record.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. black: of the darkest colour, the colour of soot or coal;^[12][3][1] pâine neagră “brown bread”, vin negru “dark red wine”.^[12][3][1]
2. Of people, black; by extension dark-haired, swarthy.^[12][2]
3. (popular) dirty, unwashed.^[12][1]
4. Without light, dark;^[12] (figurative) sad, gloomy, oppressive;^[12] preț negru “black-market price”.^[12]
5. (figurative) Wicked, cruel; dreadful, shameful;^[12][2] magie neagră “black magic”.^[12][2]

Noun

1. The colour black;^[12][1] (figurative) grief; black dye or paint.^[12][1]
2. A black man;^[12][1] (colloquial) a ghostwriter, someone who does work published under another's name.^[12][1]
3. Dirt, grime: nici cât negru sub unghie “not a bit”.^[12]

Word family

• negreală
• negreață
• negricios
• negriciune
• negroaică
• negriu
• negritură
• ponegri
• ponegreală
• negruț
• negri

Related words

• înnegri
• Aromanian negru
• Latin niger

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. negru
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, 127
4. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 101
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5917
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 748
8. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. negru
10. ^ 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. negru
11. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 105:22
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 703
13. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. negru