prostie

Forms

prostie f (plural prostii)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian prost + -ie.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The adjective prost is from Old Church Slavonic простъ (prostŭ, “simple”), from Proto-Slavic *prostъ.^[2][1] Its first senses, “simple, plain, common”, are old, and the sense “stupid” came later; the noun shows the same shift.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Coresi's Praxiu (the Acts and Epistles) of 1563.^[3] In Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură (1581) it means “purity, innocence”: Christ sends the blind man to the pool of Siloam to show „prostiia și buna mintea orbului” “the innocence and good sense of the blind man”.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the noun meant purity and sincerity of heart, simplicity and modesty: a Coresi text tells servants to obey their masters „în prostiia inimei voastre” “in the simplicity of your heart”.^[5][4] Ignorance followed: Nicolae Costin blames a defeat on a commander's prostie, and Antim speaks of his own ignorance with the word.^[5][4] These senses are now obsolete.^[4] Tiktin also glosses it with German Schlichtheit, Einfalt.^[3]

The modern sense “stupidity” is found in proverbs such as Prostia din născare leac nu are “inborn stupidity has no cure”, recorded by Negruzzi.^[3][5] From it come the countable senses: a stupid act or word, and a trifle or nonsense, often in the plural prostii.^[6][4][8] Early 19th-century dictionaries still gave both sides: the Lexicon de la Buda glosses it with Latin ruditas, rusticitas, simplicitas.^[9]

Timeline

• 1563 – the first record, in Coresi's Praxiu.^[3]
• 1581 – prostiia “purity, innocence” in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură.^[4][5]
• 1643 – Varlaam uses it of simple Christian piety.^[5]
• 1649 – it glosses Slavonic words for simplicity and coarseness in Mardarie's lexicon.^[10]
• 1825 – ruditas, rusticitas, simplicitas in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. stupidity: the state of someone who lacks intelligence or knowledge;^[6][4][1] în prostie “without measure”.^[6][4][1]
2. A stupid act or remark; a blunder or prank.^[6][4][1]
3. (often plural) A trifle, nonsense: talk or things without seriousness or importance.^[6][11]
4. (obsolete) Purity, sincerity, simplicity, modesty; ignorance.^[4][5]

Related words

• prost
• prostesc
• prosti
• prostime

Usage notes

A-i scoate cuiva prostiile din cap means to talk someone out of foolish plans.^[11] Ce prostie! is a common exclamation.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. prost
3. ^ 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. prostíe
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 574
5. ^ 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. prostie
6. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 887
7. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 295
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. prostie
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. prostie