nucet

Forms

nucet n (plural nuceturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nucētum (“nut grove”), as MDA2, DEX, Tiktin and Scriban give it.^[2][3][4][5] Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the REW also take it from Latin, and the REW lists Italian noceto and Spanish nocedo beside it.^[6][7][8] Ciorănescu prefers a Romanian derivative of nuc “walnut tree” with the collective suffix -et, and names the Latin source only as the view of the others.^[6] Wiktionary gives both analyses.^[1]

The Latin word is formed on nux (“nut tree”) with the suffix -ētum, and is recorded in Statius.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1400, from the Slavonic–Romanian documents, and also lists Nucet as a place name.^[4] A village in Sibiu county appears with the Romanian name in 18th-century records, as Nucsed in 1733 and Nucset in 1750, beside its older Hungarian name.^[10] The sense was a grove or orchard of walnut trees, as it is today.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the Latin one, a place planted with walnut trees.^[8][3] Șăineanu defined it as a walnut forest, Damé as a place planted with walnuts or a walnut forest.^[11][12] The word is common in place names: Wiktionary lists a town in Bihor county and villages and a commune in Dâmbovița, Prahova and Sibiu counties.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – the first record, in the Slavonic–Romanian documents.^[4]
• 1733 – Nucsed, a village name in a Transylvanian record.^[10]
• 1825 – nucet in the Lexicon of Buda, with the Latin nucetum and the German “Nußgarten”.^[2][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A walnut orchard or grove, a place planted with walnut trees (nuc).^[3][2][1]

Related words

• nuc
• nucă
• Latin nux

Usage notes

The plural is nuceturi, and MDA2 records an older plural nucete and regional forms nocet and nucăt.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 172
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 723
4. ^ 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. nucet
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 878
6. ^ 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. nuc
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5981
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. nucet
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Suciu, Coriolan (1966–1968), Dicționar istoric al localităților din Transilvania, I–II, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 1, 434
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 434
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 2
13. ^ 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. 450