paznic

Forms

paznic m (plural paznici, feminine equivalent paznică)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian pază (“guard, watch”) + -nic.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the verb păzi “to guard”, beside pază and păzitor.^[5] Scriban points out that the suffix is itself of Slavic origin.^[6]

The verb is from Old Church Slavonic пазити (paziti, “to watch attentively”), as Miklosich and Tiktin held;^[5] Ciorănescu compares Bulgarian пазя (pazja) and Slovene paziti (“to take care”).^[5] The noun pază is recorded from 1581 and the Romanian sources take it from the verb.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1560, a Romanian word in a Slavonic–Romanian charter.^[4] The first Romanian text is Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581, where whoever builds a treasury and stands guard over it is likened to a servant: „Chip de slugă iaste cine... face vistiar și i-e paznic”.^[8][3] The sense is the one the word still has, a watchman or guard.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the word was used for guards posted to defend a city and for guards asked to protect a person: Moxa's chronicle has „Lasă paznici să păzească Țarigradul” “he leaves guards to watch over Constantinople”.^[8] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 renders Cain's question with it: „Au paznic fratelui mieu sunt eu?” “Am I my brother's keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).^[9][4] Dictionaries of the 19th century gloss it with Latin custos, vigil and German Wächter, Hüter.^[10][11]

An administrative sense grew beside the general one: a paznic was a member of the village council who collected the taxes, a sense the dictionaries now mark as obsolete;^[2][12][13] Damé describes him in Moldavia as a kind of deputy mayor.^[2][12][13] MDA2 also records a rare use for someone who watches what another person does, a spy, and a regional one for the hand of a clock.^[3] Today the word names above all a watchman of a hospital, a cemetery or a prison, often a night watchman.^[6][12]

Timeline

• 1560 – a Romanian word in a Slavonic–Romanian charter, the first record.^[4]
• 1581 – paznic “guard” in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[3][8]
• 1615 – guards asked for to protect a person, in the Romanian Herodotus.^[8]
• 1688 – „Au paznic fratelui mieu sunt eu?” in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1825 – Paznicu “custos, vigil” in the Lexicon of Buda.^[10]
• 1893–1895 – Damé records the sense “deputy of the mayor” beside “guard, watchman”.^[13]
• 1916 – the unrelated fishermen's word paznic, an opening in a fish trap, in Antipa's book on fishing.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A watchman or guard: a person whose task is to watch over someone or something;^[2][3][1] paznic de noapte “night watchman”.^[2][3][1]
2. (obsolete) A member of the village council in charge of collecting the taxes.^[2][12]
3. (rare) A person who watches what someone does; a spy.^[3]

Related words

• păzi
• păzitor
• pazvan

Usage notes

The feminine is paznică.^[1][6] A separate regional word paznic (neuter, plural paznice) names a cooper's or carpenter's chisel or cramp in Moldavia and, among fishermen of western Oltenia, an opening at the side of a fish trap; it is Russian пазник (paznik), from паз (paz, “groove”).^{[6][14][3][8]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. 785
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 289
4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. paznic
5. ^ 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. păzi
6. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 945
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 288
8. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. paznic
9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 4:9
10. ^ 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.), p. 491
11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 464
12. ^ a b c d Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 343
13. ^ a b c Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 2
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 472