parfum

Forms

parfum n (plural parfumuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French parfum (“perfume”).^[2][3][4][1] MDA2 and Tiktin add Italian profumo, and NODEX German Parfum.^[5][6][7] The Italian word gave the older variant ⟨profum⟩, which Scriban says some poets used.^[8][9] The French noun comes from parfumer (“to scent”), borrowed from Occitan perfumar or another language of the Mediterranean coast, compare profumare.^[1] Nocentini derives these from Vulgar Latin *perfumāre (“to give off a smell”), from fūmus (“smoke, smell”) with per-.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the word from 1829, in the newspaper Albina românească.^[6][5] The Italian form profum appears beside it in Heliade Rădulescu and Iordache Golescu.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a pleasant and penetrating smell, mostly of flowers, then also the appetizing smell of food.^[5][8] From the smell the word passed to the substance and the liquid product made from natural or synthetic scents, its bottle, and in the plural its sorts.^[5][2] Figuratively it is a characteristic note or atmosphere: un parfum de vechime “an air of old times”.^[2][9] In slang it is an invariable adjective meaning “excellent, first-rate”.^[11] Regionally it names the petunia.^[5]

Timeline

• 1829 – first record, in Albina românească.^[6][5]
• 1836 – the verb parfuma, from French and Italian.^[5]
• 1848 – parfumerie “perfumery”, from French.^[12]
• 1961 – parfumier “perfumer”.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pleasant smell; a fragrance, scent, mostly of flowers; also the appetizing smell of some foods.^[2][5]
2. A liquid product with a pleasant smell, made by mixing aromatic substances of plant origin or synthetic ones; a perfume; by extension the product with its bottle; in the plural, sorts of perfume.^[2][5][1]
3. (figurative) A characteristic note; a distinctive atmosphere.^[2][5]
4. (regional, botany) The petunia.^[5]

Word family

• parfumier

Related words

• parfuma
• parfumerie

Usage notes

In slang parfum is used as an invariable adjective, “very good, top quality”.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 776
3. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. parfum
4. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. parfum
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 270
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. parfum
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. parfum
8. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. parfum
9. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 935
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. parfum
12. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 271