pantalon

Forms

pantalon m (plural pantaloni)^[1] In the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet the word was written панталон.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French pantalon, also borrowed from Modern Greek πανταλόνι (pantalóni): Ciorănescu, Tiktin and Wiktionary name French,^[2][3][1][4] and MDA2, DLR and DEX both languages.^[5][6][7] The French word is from Italian Pantalone, a character of the commedia dell'arte whose name was a nickname for Venetians, after Saint Pantaleone.^[8] The name goes back to Ancient Greek Παντελεήμων (Panteleḗmōn).^[1] The cognate Aromanian pantalone is from Italian.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1793.^[3] MDA2 and DLR take theirs from Dinicu Golescu's account of his travels of 1824–1826: „pantaloni pînă în genunche” “trousers down to the knee”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word named town-made trousers, as opposed to the peasant cioareci, ițari, nădragi, berneveci and șalvari.^[3][5] Negruzzi's dandy counts „două frace, trei surtuce și patru părechi pantaloni” “two tailcoats, three frock coats and four pairs of trousers”.^[3][6] Russo turned it into a figure for the Latinists: speaking Latin instead of Romanian would mean exchanging trousers and frock coat for the toga.^[6][10]

It is mostly used in the plural.^[7][11] Later senses are women's trousers, underpants and drawers, a man (by synecdoche), and in technology a forked pipe fitting shaped like a pair of trousers.^[5][7] Compounds such as pantalon-trening “tracksuit bottoms” appear in the press from 1965.^[12]

Timeline

• 1793 – the first record.^[3]
• 1824–1826 – pantaloni in Golescu's account of his travels.^[5][6]
• 1893 – Damé notes that the plural is the usual form.^[11]
• 1965 – pantaloni-trening “tracksuit bottoms” in the press.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually in the plural) trousers, pants: a garment covering the body from the waist down, each leg separately.^[7][5][1]
2. underpants, drawers.^[7][5]
3. (technical) A hollow piece of sheet or cast metal used to branch a pipe.^[7][5]
4. (theatre) A piece of scenery that gives perspective in the opening of a window or door.^[13][4]

Word family

• pantalonaș
• pantalonar

Related words

• Aromanian pantalone
• French pantalon

Usage notes

The plural pantaloni is the usual form, and a pair is o pereche de pantaloni.^[7][3] Tiktin records the diminutive pantalonaș.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. pantalon
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. pantalón
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
5. ^ 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, 257
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. pantalon
7. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 769
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 814
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 314
11. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
12. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
13. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România