pin

Forms

pin m (plural pini)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pīnus (“pine”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian chin and Megleno-Romanian pin.^[3][8][9] Its Romance cognates include Italian pino, French pin, Catalan pi, Spanish pino and Portuguese pinho.^[3][10]

The origin of the Latin word is disputed.^[1] De Vaan names several possibilities: the same base as Ancient Greek πίναξ (pínax, “plank”); the root of πίτυς (pítus, “pine”) and Albanian pishë (“pine”); or a consonant cluster that would connect it with pix (“pitch, resin”); it may also be a tree name from outside Indo-European.^[11] Wiktionary traces it to a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *poi- (“sap, juice”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is the place name Pinoasa of 1587; as a common noun it appears in a document of 1625.^[5] MDA2's first record is Varlaam's Cazania (1643): „Pinul acela ce-l văzu Moisi proroc … arzând cu pară de foc” “that pine that Moses the prophet saw … burning with flame”.^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

The Bucharest Bible of 1688 uses pini for the trees that Hiram gave Solomon.^[5][13] The word was long a learned one beside the popular brad: Cihac called brad the popular term, and the Lexicon de la Buda explained pin by bradu alb “white fir” and molitu “spruce”.^[14][15]

Today it names the Scots pine, and with qualifiers several other species: pin de munte, pin roșu and pin silvestru for the Scots pine, and regionally pin pitic or pin de piatră for the dwarf mountain pine (jneapăn), while pin de munte also for the Swiss stone pine (zâmbru); and pin negru de Banat for a local black pine.^[4][12] Pin maritim is a resin-rich pine planted to hold dunes.^[2] In Moldavia the tree was also called chin.^[16]

Timeline

• 1587 – the place name Pinoasa.^[5]
• 1625 – pin in a document, the first record as a common noun.^[5]
• 1643 – pinul in Varlaam's Cazania.^[4][12]
• 1688 – pini in the Bucharest Bible.^[13]
• 1825 – pinu in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Scots pine: a tall evergreen tree of the pine family with long needles, reddish bark and strong wood (Pinus silvestris).^[2][4][1]
2. Pin maritim: the maritime pine, planted to fix shifting dunes (Pinus maritima).^[2]
3. (regional) The dwarf mountain pine, jneapăn (Pinus mugo); also the Swiss stone pine, zâmbru (Pinus cembra).^[4][12]
4. Pin negru de Banat: a black pine of the Banat (Pinus pallasiana banatica).^[4]

Word family

• pinos

Related words

• Aromanian chin
• Latin pīnus

Usage notes

DEX lists three other words spelled pin: pin¹, a regional form of the preposition prin “through” (Scriban notes pin in the east and pân elsewhere), pin³, borrowed from English pin, the pins of a microprocessor or the male parts of a connector; and pin⁴, the PIN code (from the English “personal identification number”) of a bank card or a mobile phone.^[2][17] MDA2 also records two regional words: pin “pin with a head” (compare German Pinne) and pin, a fishermen's pole for taking samples of mud.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 819
3. ^ 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. pin
4. ^ 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, 381
5. ^ 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. pin
6. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 115
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6519
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 603
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 222
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. pin
13. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 3 Kings 5:10
14. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 205
15. ^ 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. 505
16. ^ Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 223
17. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 979