oglindă

Forms

oglindă f (plural oglinzi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Romanian oglindi (“to reflect; to look at”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Ciorănescu likewise lists it among the derivatives of the verb.^[6] The verb is from Old Church Slavonic оглѧдати (oględati, “to look around”).^[6][3][7] MDA2 and the DLR also compare Bulgarian огледам се (ogledam se, “to look at oneself in a mirror”).^[3][8] Wiktionary traces the Slavonic verb to Proto-Slavic *oględati.^[1]

Scriban gave a second possibility, a Slavonic noun that he reconstructed.^[9] Cihac set the word beside the South Slavic nouns for “mirror” formed on the same verb.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the personal name Oglenda in 1474.^[4] The name Oglinda is recorded in Moldavia in 1534.^[11] As a common noun the word appears in the Codicele Voronețean, which MDA2 gives as its first record.^[3] The 1688 Bible has it in 1 Corinthians 13:12.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The concrete object, a polished surface of metal or silvered glass that gives back an image, has been the main sense since the old texts.^[2][3] Any smooth shining surface that reflects light, above all still water, is also an oglindă.^[2] In the old language the word also meant a model, a pattern to follow, and the figurative sense of something that shows or reflects something else is common: the proverb ochii sunt oglinda inimii “the eyes are the mirror of the heart”.^[3][4] Nicolae Costin wrote that in reading a chronicle one would see the affairs of the neighbours as in a mirror.^[4]

Regional uses include the plural for spectacles, the plant name oglinda-fetei for the Venus's looking-glass, and oglinda laptelui, a patch of skin with reversed hair on a cow's hindquarters.^[3][4] Slang uses the word for the eye.^[13]

Timeline

• 1474 – the personal name Oglenda.^[4]
• 1534 – the name Oglinda in Moldavia.^[11]
• c. 1563-1583 – the common noun in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3]
• 1688 – oglindă in the Bucharest Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:12.^[12]
• 1825 – oglindă in the Lexicon de la Buda, glossed with Latin speculum, with the diminutive oglinduță.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mirror: an object of metal or of glass coated on one side with metal, whose polished face reflects light and shows the image of what is in front of it.^[2][3][1]
2. A smooth, shining surface that reflects light, especially that of water: oglinda lacului “the mirror of the lake”.^[2][15]
3. (figurative) Something that shows, represents or stands for something else; an image, a reflection.^[2][3]
4. In oglinda laptelui or oglinda ugerului: the smooth patch of skin on the hindquarters of a cow or other animal, where the hair grows upwards.^[2]
5. (geology) In oglindă de falie: a slickenside, a rock surface polished by friction along a fault.^[2]

Word family

• oglindar
• oglinjoară

Related words

• oglindi

Usage notes

The plural is oglinzi;^[4] Tiktin records an older plural oglinde.^[4] A face ceva oglindă means to clean something until it shines.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 737
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 201
4. ^ 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. oglindă
5. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 442
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. oglindi
7. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
8. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. oglindi
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 895
10. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 121
11. ^ a b Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. oglindă
12. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 1 Cor 13:12
13. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. oglindă
14. ^ 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. 461
15. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. oglindă