obicei

Forms

obicei n (plural obiceiuri)^[1] Old texts have obiceai, plural obiceaie: Ureche wrote „Se cade a se purtare craii, împărații și domnii în podoabe și în obiceaie de cinste” “it is fitting that kings, emperors and princes go about in finery and in honourable customs”.^[2][3] MDA2 also lists the regional variants obicer, oblicei and obricei, and the old plural obiceie.^[4] Ciorănescu explains the forms with -l- by a crossing with oblici “to reveal”.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic обꙑчаи (obyčai, “custom, habit”), from Proto-Slavic *obyčajь.^[5][1][6][7] DEX, MDA2 and the DLR name Bulgarian обичай (običaj) as the source instead.^[8][4][2] Ciorănescu relates the Slavic word to оучити (učiti, “to teach”), as Scriban does, while Vasmer derives it from *ob-vyčajь, on the verb for “to become accustomed”;^[5][6][9][1] Wiktionary has *obyčati (“to get used to”).^[5][6][9][1] The word is found across Slavic, as in Serbo-Croatian običaj and Russian обычай (obyčaj).^[5][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Coresi's Gospel book of 1561, at Matthew 27:15.^[3] MDA2's first record is the Tetraevanghel of 1574.^[4] The DLR quotes another Coresi print: „Și obiceai încă era” “and it was also the custom”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant both a custom of a people and the habit of a single person.^[2][4] In the old language it also had legal senses: unwritten customary law (obiceiul pământului, “the custom of the land”, the customary law of the medieval Romanian principalities), a privilege, a tax due by custom, and a religious rite.^[8][5][4] At the princely court a logofăt de obiceiuri was the master of ceremonies.^[4] Tiktin quotes a chronicler for whom the cannons were fired pe obicei “according to custom” at the proclamation of a new prince.^[3]

The derived verb obicinui was reduced to the modern obișnui “to be used to”, and obicină, from Slavonic, meant “custom” in the 17th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1561 – “custom” in Coresi's Gospel book (Matthew 27:15), the first record.^[3]
• 1574 – in the Tetraevanghel, MDA2's first record.^[4]
• 1581 – in the Palia.^[2]
• c. 1642–1647 – the plural obiceaie in Ureche's chronicle.^[2][3]
• 17th century – obicină “custom”, from Slavonic.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A habit: a way of acting gained by doing the same thing often and for a long time; a particular way of behaving or doing something.^[8][4][1]
2. A custom or tradition: a traditional way of behaving shared by a people or social group; a datină.^[8][4]
3. (obsolete) An unwritten law, a right or duty fixed by tradition.^[8][5]
4. (law) Customary law;^[8] obiceiul pământului was the name of customary law in the medieval Romanian principalities.^[8]

Word family

• obicinui
• obișnui
• obișnuință
• obișnuit
• neobișnuit
• desobișnui

Related words

• obicină
• datină

Usage notes

De obicei means “usually, as a rule”, and a avea obicei “to be in the habit of”.^[8] The proverb câte bordeie, atâtea obiceie “so many huts, so many customs” keeps the old plural; the usual plural is obiceiuri.^[10][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. obicei
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. obicei
4. ^ 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, 182
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 883
7. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 728
9. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. obicei