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porumbel

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word porumbel

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1657 the Calvinist catechism More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Latin palumbus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Romanian porumb
Romanian porumbel
From the same root
Romanian porumbar ← porumb

Forms

porumbel m (plural porumbei)[1] Regional forms include porumbiel in the south-west and porumbrel and porumbreriu in Moldavia;[2][3][4] Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică has porumbreriu.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian porumb + -el, a diminutive of the older word for the bird.[5][4][6][3][1] The base word continues Latin palumbus (“wood pigeon”), with Aromanian părumbu and Romance cognates such as Italian palombo, Spanish paloma and Portuguese pombo.[7][8][1] The REW records the Romanian senses “maize”, “dove-grey” and “sloe” beside “pigeon”.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first date is 1657, from the Calvinist catechism.[3] MDA2 cites Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică as its first record.[4]

Semantic evolution

The diminutive took over the bird: today porumbel is the usual word for the pigeon and the dove, and porumb in this sense is popular.[4][5] In 1870 Costinescu still glossed it as a young pigeon, and as a term of endearment between lovers.[9] Phrases grew around the bird: porumbel călător or de poștă “carrier pigeon”, and a trăi ca porumbeii “to live like doves”, in love and harmony.[5][10]

Like porumb, the diminutive also follows the plant senses of the base word.[5][3] In Transylvania it names the blackthorn, already in the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825, and its fruit, the sloe.[11][12][13] It is also a young ear of maize, eaten boiled or roasted, and in the plural the grape hyacinth.[5][2] Regionally it is an adjective of colour, “dove-grey”, said of horses.[5][14] Slang uses it for a lovestruck couple, or for a letter smuggled out of prison.[15]

Timeline

  • 1657 – the first record, in the Calvinist catechism.[3]
  • 1705 – in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică, MDA2's first record.[4]
  • 1825 – porumbelu “blackthorn” in the Lexicon de la Buda.[11]
  • 1870 – “young pigeon” and a term of endearment, in Costinescu's dictionary.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pigeon or dove, wild or domestic, with a short beak and plumage of many colours (Columba); hulub.[5][4] Porumbel călător or de poștă: a carrier pigeon.[5][4]
  2. Porumbel-râzător: the collared dove, guguștiuc.[5]
  3. A young ear of maize with the grains still milky, eaten boiled or roasted.[5]
  4. (botany) The blackthorn, porumbar; in the plural, the grape hyacinth (Muscari botryoides).[5]

Adjective

  1. (regional) Dove-grey.[5][14]

Usage notes

The feminine porumbea is regional for a female dove, and is also the name of the sloe, the fruit of the blackthorn.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1021
  3. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. porumbel
  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, 478
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 853
  6. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. porumbel
  7. ^ 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. porumb
  8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6181
  9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 322
  10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 510
  11. ^ 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. 528
  12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 498
  13. ^ 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. 234
  14. ^ a b Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 239
  15. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. porumbel
Cite this entry

“Porumbel.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/porumbel. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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