oriunde

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian ori + unde, as DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give it.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary treats the first part as the prefix ori- “-ever, any-”, which also forms oricine and orice.^[1] Ori is a variant of oare in Wiktionary, of unknown origin in DEX.^[1][2] unde “where” is from Latin unde.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record MDA2 and the DLR cite is the Moldavian law code of Vasile Lupu's time, which says that a wife must follow her husband „oriunde va mearge” “wherever he goes”.^[4][3] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has it 30 times.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word means “in any place, no matter where” and often works as a conjunction introducing a clause of place.^[2][4] Old and popular texts have orunde, as in a text of 1775 and in Anton Pann; regional speech has oriinde and oriine.^[4][3] One dialect glossary records it with the sense “somewhere”.^[4] Barițiu's dictionary of 1869 renders Hungarian valamerre csak by oriunde.^[7]

Timeline

• 1688 – 30 occurrences in the Bucharest Bible.^[6]
• 1775 – the variant orunde.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. anywhere, wherever: in any place, no matter where; pretutindeni, orișiunde; often as a conjunction introducing a clause of place: oriunde ai merge “wherever you go”.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• unde
• ori
• orișiunde
• undeva

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. 751
3. ^ 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, 226
4. ^ 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. oriunde
5. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1372
6. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. A doua leage 12:13
7. ^ Barițiu, George (1869), Dictionariu unguresc-romanescu, Brașov, p. 607