pânză

Forms

pânză f (plural pânze)^[1] A plural pânzuri “linen goods” occurs beside pânze: „O ladă ce gemea de pânzuri” “a chest bursting with linen” (Nădejde).^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[4][3][5] Ciorănescu's source is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pandea (“woven cloth”), an etymon he calls generally accepted, though each author explains it differently.^[4][1] He takes it as a cross of Latin pannus (“cloth”) with brandeum (“linen cloth”), like brânză and brâu.^[4] Pușcariu, Tiktin and the REW derive it from pandō (“to spread out”).^[6][4][7][8] Skok instead proposed *pannea, formed on the same noun.^[4][1] Pascu's Thracian source, linked with Ancient Greek πήνη (pḗnē, “woof thread”), is doubtful.^[4][9] MDA2 and the DLR leave it unexplained.^[3][5]

It survives in all four branches: Aromanian pãndzã, Megleno-Romanian pǫndză and Istro-Romanian pănzę.^{[4][10][11][6]} The Latin noun itself has no Indo-European etymology, and de Vaan takes it and the similar Greek and Germanic words as loans from an unknown source.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1532.^[2] MDA2 starts from the Govora law code of 1640, which speaks of someone taking a linen curtain, zaveasă de pânză.^[3][5] Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1649 uses pînze to gloss Slavonic платно “linen”.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is a woven fabric, above all linen, hemp or cotton for underwear and bed linen, and a piece of it; old inventories list it by the ell.^[5][14] A piece of cloth then gave the shroud and the cloth laid over the face of the dead, the sail of a ship, the painter's canvas and so the painting, the theatre curtain, and the cobweb, pânză de păianjen.^[4][14][15] In Moldavia it also means a fishing net, and a film over the eye is a pânză.^[4][14]

Anything flat and spread out could be called by it: a layer or sheet of water, mist or light, an armed detachment in old texts, and the blade of a saw or axe.^[4][8][14] Tiktin quotes ca printr-o pânză “as through a veil” of dim sight and curgea pânză of rain falling in sheets.^[2] The phrase până în pânzele albe “to the bitter end” first meant going on until the white shroud.^[16]

Timeline

• 1532 – the first record.^[2]
• 1640 – zaveasă de pânză “a linen curtain” in the Govora law code.^[3][5]
• 1649 – pînze in Mardarie's lexicon.^[13]
• 1675 – pânză de păr “haircloth” in a manuscript.^[2][5]
• 1688 – pânzele “the hangings” of the Tabernacle in the Bucharest Bible.^[17]
• 1870 – the sail, the theatre curtain and the cobweb in Costinescu's dictionary.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. cloth, especially of cotton, linen or hemp, used for underwear and bed linen; a piece of this cloth.^[14][1] Pânză de casă: homespun cloth woven on a hand loom.^[14]
2. (nautical, chiefly plural) A sail.^[14][1]
3. A canvas for painting; a painting on canvas.^[14][1]
4. A projection screen.^[1]
5. Pânză de păianjen: a cobweb.^[14]
6. A thin layer spread over a surface;^[14][1] pânză freatică “water table”.^[14][1]
7. The flat blade of a saw or other tool.^[14][1]
8. (old or regional) A shroud.^[1][4]
9. (Moldavia) A dense fishing net.^[14][4]

Word family

• pânzar
• pânzărie
• pânzătură
• pânzet
• pânzișoară
• pânzuță
• împânzi

Related words

• Aromanian pãndzã
• brânză

Usage notes

Set phrases include până în pânzele albe “to the very end, relentlessly”, a zări ca printr-o pânză “to see dimly”, ține-te pânză (să nu te rupi), said of a hard and drawn-out business, and a i se lua cuiva pânza de pe ochi “to have one's eyes opened”.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. pânză
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 320
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. pînză
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. pînză
6. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 116
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6190
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 988
9. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 191
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 857
11. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 798
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. pînze
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 793
15. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 240
16. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 459
17. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 27:15