prosop

Forms

prosop n (plural prosoape)^[1] MDA2 records the regional variants prosob and proțop.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Byzantine Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face”) according to Ciorănescu, who follows Gáldi in taking it as confused with Modern Greek προσώψι (prosópsi, “towel”);^[3][4][1] Wiktionary also gives the Medieval Greek word.^[3][4][1] DEX, MDA2 and the DLR take it from Modern Greek πρόσωπον (prósopon, “for the face”), together with προσωπίς (prosopís, “towel”).^[5][2][6] Tiktin gives the same pair, the Greek noun for “face” and its derivative for “towel”, and Gáldi the Greek form προσώπι (prosópi).^[7][4]

The Greek noun goes back to Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face, countenance”), a compound of the elements meaning “against” and “eye, sight”: “what faces the eyes”.^[8][1] The word survives south of the Danube as Aromanian prusopi (“towel”), beside prosop (“face”) in the old sense.^[9][10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and Gáldi date the first record to 1762, a text of Gheorgachi the logothete: the treasury gave the metropolitan „un prosop de cele bune cu care șterge picioarele ucenicilor” “one of the good towels, with which he wipes the feet of the disciples”.^[7][4][11] MDA2 dates its first record to 1794, a document published by Iorga: „prosop de cele bune, cusut cu beteală” “a good towel, sewn with gold thread”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged at first to Moldavia, where Șăineanu and the DLRLV still label it, as a synonym of peșchir and ștergar.^[12][11] Tiktin quotes Cantemir: the lord rises and the steward brings him „apă de spălat și prosop de șters” “water to wash and a towel to dry himself”.^[7] Besides the towel for drying after washing, the DLR records it as a napkin and as an embroidered decoration hung on the walls of peasant houses, and in Moldavia a cloth for tying an animal's neck when it was bled.^[6] Regionally it still means a napkin covering food on the table.^[13] The modern language added the sense of the fabric itself, a looped cotton cloth for bathrobes and towels.^[5][2]

Timeline

• 1762 – prosop in a text of Gheorgachi the logothete, the first record.^[7][4]
• 1794 – “a good towel sewn with gold thread” in a document published by Iorga.^[2][6]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary glosses it with peșchir and ștergar.^[14]
• 1893–1895 – Damé translates it “essuie-main, serviette de toilette”.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A towel: a piece of cloth for drying oneself after washing; in peasant houses also an ornamental cloth.^[5][2][1]
2. A cotton fabric, usually terry, used for bathrobes, towels and children's linen.^[5][2]
3. (regional) A napkin or cloth covering food.^[13]

Related words

• Aromanian prusopi
• Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 572
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. prosop
4. ^ a b c d e Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 241
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 887
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prosop
7. ^ 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. prosop
8. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 860
10. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 2, 80
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 243
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 519
13. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 603
14. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 371
15. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 2