pănură

Forms

pănură f (plural pănuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin paenula (“hooded cloak”), according to Ciorănescu, MDA2, DEX and Wiktionary.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek φαινόλης (phainólēs, “thick upper garment, cloak”).^[2][5][6] Scriban compares suman, the name of a peasant coat that also means a kind of cloth.^[7]

Older explanations differ.^[2] Pușcariu and Tiktin started from Vulgar Latin *pannula, a diminutive of pannus (“cloth”), and Cihac and Șăineanu from pannulus.^{[2][8][9][10]} Candrea and Densusianu derived it from pinnula (“small feather”), through a sense “flock of wool”.^[2][11] Ciorănescu finds both less probable, citing Graur and the REW.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is a farming manual for the Romanian schools of Hungary, the Povățuire cătră economia de câmp, which its bibliography leaves undated.^[3] The Lexicon de la Buda (1825) has the word, glossed “coarse cloth” in Latin, Hungarian and German.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word names the thick homespun woollen cloth, fulled in the mill, from which peasant coats and trousers were made, and by extension cloth in general.^[4][13][3] Scriban records it in Banat, Transylvania and Moldavia.^[7] In Maramureș it can mean linen cloth as well.^[14] A figurative regional sense “kind, sort” gave the expression a fi de-o pănură cu cineva “to be of the same kind as someone”, and MDA2 also has a rare sense “origin” and a regional “brim of a hat”.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1825 – in the Lexicon de la Buda, glossed “coarse cloth”.^[12]
• 1939 – Scriban records it in Banat, Transylvania and Moldavia.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (popular) a coarse homespun woollen cloth, fulled in the mill: aba, dimie; by extension any thick fabric.^[4][3]
2. (regional) the brim of a hat.^[3]
3. (figurative, regional) kind, sort: a fi de-o pănură cu cineva “to be of the same kind as someone”.^[4][3]

Related words

• Latin paenula

Usage notes

MDA2 records the variants ponoră and punără and an old plural pănure, still used in Maramureș.^[3][15] DEX allows the stress pănúră beside pắnură.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. pănură
3. ^ 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, 300
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 788
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 949
8. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 109
9. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 459
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
12. ^ 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.)
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 353
14. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1925), Graiul și folklorul Maramureșului, București: Cultura Națională, p. 228
15. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare