obraznic

Forms

obraznic m or n (feminine singular obraznică, masculine plural obraznici, feminine/neuter plural obraznice)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian obraz (“face, cheek; honour”) + -nic, as DEX, MDA2, the DLR, Tiktin and Wiktionary state.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Ciorănescu gives this view with Bogrea and Spitzer, and also Graur's, who derived it from Old Church Slavonic образьникъ (obrazĭnikŭ).^[6] Scriban compared Bulgarian and Russian words meaning “shameless”.^[7]

The noun is from Old Church Slavonic образъ (obrazŭ, “form, image, face”), and survives in Megleno-Romanian ubraz.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Dosoftei's Parimiile of 1683.^[5] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 uses it several times, in Genesis 49:3 and in the Proverbs.^[9][5] The sense was “impudent, brazen”, a person without shame.^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was common in the sense “insolent”: Cantemir uses it in the Istoria ieroglifică (1705), and a Bertoldo of 1799 asks „Pentru ce ești așa de obraznic și șezi înaintea craiului?” “why are you so insolent as to sit before the king?”.^[5][4] The dictionaries of the period give Latin impudens, effrons and German unverschämt, frech.^[11][12]

In the 19th century a weaker sense appeared, said of children: “naughty, disobedient, unruly”; in Creangă's tale the two elder kids „dau prin băț de obraznici ce erau” “were bursting with mischief”.^[4][13][5] In the old counties of Mehedinți and Ialomița the word has the opposite sense, “shy, bashful”.^[4][3] The adjective is also used as a noun and as an adverb, a răspunde obraznic “to answer rudely”.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1683 – obraznic in Dosoftei's Parimiile.^[5]
• 1688 – obraznic in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1705 – obraznic in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[5]
• 1772 – the word in a manuscript translation of Heliodorus's Aethiopica.^[3][4]
• 1799 – „așa de obraznic” in a Bertoldo.^[4][5]
• 1825 – Obraznicu “impudens, effrons” in the Lexicon of Buda.^[11]
• 1949 – a quotation with the regional sense “shy”.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. impudent, insolent, cheeky: lacking respect or shame; often used as a noun.^[2][3][1]
2. Of children: naughty, disobedient, unruly.^[2][3][1]
3. (regional) Shy, bashful.^[3][4]

Word family

• obrăznicie
• obrăznici

Related words

• obraz
• neobrăzat

Usage notes

A proverb says obraznicul mănâncă praznicul “the bold one eats the feast”, of someone who gets what he wants by impudence.^[14][5][15] Tiktin records the diminutive obrăznicuț.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 730
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 186
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. obraznic
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. obraznic
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. obraz
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 886
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 Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 49:3
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 437
11. ^ a b 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. 455
12. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 408
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 242
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. obraznic
15. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 435