prostesc

Forms

prostesc m or n (feminine singular prostească, plural prostești)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian prost + -esc.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the adjective, which he takes from Old Church Slavonic простъ (prostŭ, “simple”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary, about 1670;^[6][4] DLR cites the same glossary for the old sense “of the common people, popular”.^[6][4] Cantemir's Hronic speaks of „cântecele prostești” “the folk songs”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first followed the old senses of prost “simple, common”: “of the common people” and “plain, ordinary”.^[4][5] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 glosses it with Latin rusticus and plebejus and German bäuerisch “boorish”, and Barcianu still has “boorish, vulgar” in 1886.^[7][8] Anton Pann's “plate with two faces, a common one” (1852) shows the sense “ordinary, of poor quality”, now rare.^[3][9] The modern sense “stupid, showing foolishness” matches the modern sense of prost, whose first senses are now obsolete;^[6][4] Tiktin quotes a beggar's râs prostesc “silly laugh” from Gane.^[6][4]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary, the first record.^[6]
• 1825 – prostescu “rustic, plebeian” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[7]
• 1852 – “common, ordinary” in Anton Pann's Povestea vorbei, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1886 – “boorish, vulgar” in Barcianu's dictionary.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. stupid, foolish; showing a lack of sense or reason: un zâmbet prostesc “a silly smile”.^[2][3][1]
2. (rare) Of poor quality, worthless, common.^[2][9]
3. (obsolete) Of the common people, popular.^[3][4][1]

Related words

• prostește
• prost
• prostie
• prostac

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 887
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 574
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prostesc
5. ^ a b 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. prost
6. ^ 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. prostesc
7. ^ 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. 555
8. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 514
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 605