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prințesă

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word prințesă

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1792 Eustatievici's letter-writing manual More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
French princesse
Ultimate origin
Latin princeps

Forms

prințesă f (plural prințese, masculine equivalent prinț)[1] Old and regional forms are princesă, princeasă, prințeasă and prensasă: „o, pre strălucită prensasă” “O most radiant princess”.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French princesse, adapted to prinț, according to DEX and the DILF.[4][5] MDA2 and the DLR name German Prinzess(in) and Russian принцесса (princessa) as sources beside the French word.[2][3] Scriban took it from Russian, which had it from German and French.[6] Wiktionary gives French or German.[1] The French word is prince with the suffix -esse, and principesă is a doublet of it.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Dimitrie Eustatievici's guide to letter-writing (1792), in a list of titles: empress, queen, prințesa, countess.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word named the female ruler of a principality, a woman of a royal or imperial family, and a prince's wife.[2] Texts of the following decades also have prințeasă, prensasă and princesă.[3] Figuratively it means a distinguished, elegant woman, and ironically a snobbish one who plays the lady.[2][6] In underworld slang it means a procuress or a mistress.[8]

Timeline

  • 1792 – prințesa in Eustatievici's letter-writing manual.[2][3]
  • 1820 – prințipisa and prințesa side by side in a calendar.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A princess: the title of a woman who rules a principality or belongs to a royal or imperial family; a woman with that title.[4][2][1]
  2. The wife of a prince.[2]
  3. (figurative) An elegant, distinguished woman;[2] (ironic) a snobbish woman.[2]
  4. (slang) A procuress; a mistress.[8]
  • prinț
  • principesă
  • French princesse

Usage notes

DEX defines it simply as principesă, the more formal word.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 547
  3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prințesă
  4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 876
  5. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
  6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1052
  7. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 146
  8. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. prințesă

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Prințesă.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/prin%C8%9Bes%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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