prin

Forms

prin (+accusative)^[1] Older forms are pre în, pri în, pren and pen; popular speech has pin and pân.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian pre + în.^{[4][3][5][6][1]} Pușcariu gave two explanations: Latin per (“through”) + in (“in”), or a Romanian formation from the prepositions above.^[7] Candrea–Densusianu and Șăineanu derive it from the Latin phrase.^[8][9] Laurian and Massim called it a contraction of those prepositions.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century has the form pren.^[11] Prin itself appears in the Psaltirea Voronețeană (c. 1551–1558) and in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[12][13][6] MDA2 cites Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The preposition first marks space: movement through something (prin geam “through the window”) or a place within which something happens (prin casă “about the house”).^[4][6] From this came the instrumental sense “by means of, through” and the use for approximate time: prin iulie “some time in July”.^[4][6] The phrase prin urmare means “consequently”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – pren in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[11]
• c. 1551-1558 – prin in the Psaltirea Voronețeană.^[12]
• 1581 – in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[3]
• 1589 – the popular form pîn in Coresi's psalter.^[14]

Meanings

Preposition

1. through: across a space, or into it: Lumina intră prin fereastră.^[4][1]
2. In, about, somewhere within (a place); among: Se plimbă prin parc.^[4][15]
3. By means of, with the help of; owing to; by (an agent).^[4][1]
4. (with an infinitive) By: a începe prin a ... “to begin by ...”.^[4]
5. (time) In, during; around, about: prin vară “some time in the summer”.^[4][15]

Related words

• pre
• în
• printre

Usage notes

Preceded by de it forms the phrase de prin “from somewhere in”: de prin oraș “from somewhere in town”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1051
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 541
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 875
5. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prin
6. ^ 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. prin
7. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 121
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 139
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 512
10. ^ Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. prin
11. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 9:22
12. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 100:3
13. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 10:1
14. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 17:39
15. ^ a b Breban, Vasile (1980), Dicționar al limbii române contemporane de uz curent, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 468