obișnui

Forms

obișnui (third-person singular present obișnuiește, past participle obișnuit), 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian obicină + -ui: the older form obicinui was later shortened to the present form.^[2][3][4][1] The DLR derives the variant obiciui from obicii, a form of obicei “custom”.^[5] Tiktin compares Serbo-Croatian običavati.^[6]

The base is an old noun meaning “custom”, first recorded in 1643.^[7] MDA2 and DEX derive it from Bulgarian обично (obično).^[7][2] Ciorănescu takes it from Old Church Slavonic обꙑчьнъ (obyčĭnŭ, “usual, customary”), a derivative of the same root as the noun for “custom”.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Mărgăritare of 1691, with the older forms obicinui and obicini.^[6] Cantemir's Hronicul (c. 1717–1723) has the variant obiciui in the reflexive sense “to get used to”: the Pechenegs had grown used to living with the beasts of the empty plains, „cu dînsele viața a-și purta să obiciuisă”.^[5] MDA2 cites the same work in its edition of 1901.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb has two main uses from the start: reflexive a se obișnui “to grow used to” and transitive a obișnui să “to be in the habit of”.^[5][6] The contracted obișnui is found in a document of 1836, while obicinui lived on in writers such as Negruzzi.^[5][9] An impersonal reflexive se obișnuiește să means “it is the custom to”, and vorba nu se mai obișnuiește “the word is no longer used” shows the sense of being in use.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 1643 – the base noun “custom” in Varlaam's Cazania.^[7]
• 1691 – obicinui in the Mărgăritare, the first record.^[6]
• c. 1717–1723 – obiciui in Cantemir's Hronicul.^[5]
• 1836 – the contracted form, s-au obișnuit, in a document.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive and transitive) To get or make someone get a habit by doing the same thing again and again; to get accustomed, deprinde, familiariza: m-am obișnuit cu frigul “I have got used to the cold”.^[2][3]
2. (transitive) To have the habit of doing something: obișnuiește să citească seara “he usually reads in the evening”.^[2][9]
3. (transitive and reflexive) To use often, to employ;^[2][9] se obișnuiește să “it is the custom to”.^[2][9]

Word family

• obișnuit
• obișnuință
• neobișnuit

Related words

• obicei
• obicină

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 728
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 183
4. ^ 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. obicei
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. obișnui
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. obișnui
7. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 182
8. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
9. ^ a b c d e Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 238
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 436