păși

Forms

păși (present pășesc, third-person singular pășește, past participle pășit), 4th conjugation^[1] Besides the usual imperative, regional speech has an imperative păși, and Tiktin records paș as well.^[2][3] Klein's dictionary of 1801 spells the first person Paeshésc, read pășesc, with Latin progredior “I step forward”.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian pas + -i, from pas (“step”).^[2][5][6][1] The noun is inherited from Latin passus (“step, pace”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, with the sense “to step, walk”.^[2][7][8] Tiktin's first date is a text of 1551–1553.^[3] A prayer book of 1689 renders Psalm 90:13: „Pre aspidă și pre vasiliscă vei păși” “Thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk”.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense “to make a step, go step by step, walk” has stayed central.^[5][2] The chroniclers use it for armies advancing: in Neculce the Poles, „încet pășind”, slowly stepping, held off the Turkish attack.^[8] Old phrases had a păși împotrivă “to oppose”, a păși la mijloc “to step in as mediator” and a păși pe cineva din urmă “to follow someone closely”.^[2] Figurative senses followed: to progress, to enter a place or a new period of life, and to cross over something, also in the sense of breaking a law or an agreement.^[2][5] Its derivatives depăși “to exceed” and propăși “to prosper” were made on the models of French dépasser and Latin prōgredior.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – first record, in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[2][7]
• 1551–1553 – Tiktin's first record.^[3]
• 1688 – pășind and pășesc in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1689 – „vei păși” in a prayer book, Psalm 90:13.^[3]
• 1801 – pășesc in Klein's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To step, to walk: to take one or more steps, to go along on foot.^[5][1]
2. (often figurative) To advance, to progress.^[5][2]
3. To enter a place;^[5] (figurative) to reach a certain age or enter a new period.^[5]
4. To step out, to go out.^[5]
5. To step over something; also transitive: a păși pragul “to cross the threshold”.^[5][10]

Word family

• depăși
• propăși

Related words

• pas
• păsa

Usage notes

A păși în vârful picioarelor means to walk on tiptoe, without noise.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 311
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. pășí
4. ^ a b 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. 412
5. ^ 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. 790
6. ^ a b c 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. pas
7. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 63:7
8. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. păși
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 1 Împărății 5:5
10. ^ Breban, Vasile (1980), Dicționar al limbii române contemporane de uz curent, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 423
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 361