portocală

Forms

portocală f (plural portocale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek πορτοκάλι (portokáli), which MDA2 and Tiktin print in the older spelling πορτοκάλλι (portokálli).^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin explains the Greek word as “fruit from Portugal”.^[4] The Greek dictionaries take it from Italian portogallo (“sweet orange”), perhaps through a southern Italian dialect form portocallo, whose plural portocalli was taken for a neuter singular, and that from the country name Portogallo (“Portugal”), where the fruit first came from.^[5][6] Scriban compares the Turkish name of the fruit.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document from before 1750 in Iorga's Studii și documente, which lists nărămze, “50 and four” protocale and 35 lemons.^[8][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Several forms with the syllables in another order were in use: protocală in the first record, potrucală in the 19th century, and regional potrocală and purtucală;^[8][3][4] Anton Pann wrote portocă.^[8][3][4] The DLR and MDA2 give naramză and pomeranță as old and regional synonyms.^[8][3]

The tree, portocal, is named from the fruit and is recorded from 1833; the colour adjective portocaliu “orange” is recorded in Anton Pann in 1837.^[2][3] Further senses are a thin candle twisted into a ball, and regional names of a pelargonium and of the garden portulaca.^[3][8] The word also opens a children's counting-out rhyme, Ala, bala, portocala.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1750 – protocale in a document, the first record.^[8][3]
• 1833 – portocal “orange tree”.^[3]
• 1837 – portocaliu “orange-coloured” in Anton Pann.^[3]
• 1846 – portocalele in Curierul Românesc.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An orange: the round, juicy, sweet-sour fruit of the orange tree, with a reddish-yellow peel.^[2][3][1]
2. (rare) A long thin candle twisted into a ball, so that it is easier to hold.^[2][8]
3. (regional) A name of a pelargonium (Oltenia) and of the garden portulaca (Transylvania).^[3][8]

Word family

• portocal
• portocaliu

Related words

• naramză
• Modern Greek πορτοκάλι (portokáli)

Usage notes

DEX and MDA2 also list a second headword portocală, an old feminine variant of portocal “orange tree”.^[2][3]

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. 852
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 476
4. ^ 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. portocală
5. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1020
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. portocală