prun

Forms

prun m (plural pruni)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin prūnus (“plum tree”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} Ciorănescu also cites Candrea–Densusianu and the REW for this etymology.^[2][7] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek προύνη (proúnē), itself a loan from a language of Asia Minor.^[1]

It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian prun and Megleno-Romanian prun.^[2][8][9] Aromanian also has purnu.^[8] The REW lists Spanish pruno beside the Romanian word under the same etymon.^[7]

The name of the fruit, prună, is a Romanian derivative for Ciorănescu, though it may come straight from Latin prūna.^[2][2][2] He rejects the REW's *prūnea because it does not fit the Romanian form.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1436.^[5] In Romanian texts MDA2's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, a Romanian–Latin glossary of about 1650–1700.^[3] The sense there is the cultivated plum tree, Prunus domestica, and it has stayed the same.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word names the cultivated plum tree, and in folk names it is also used for other wild trees of the genus Prunus.^[3] In regional use prun gogoneț is the bullace (Prunus insititia) and prun sălbatic “wild plum” the bird cherry (Prunus padus), which Panțu records in Transylvania.^[3][10] In Moldavia the tree and its fruit are called perj and perje.^[2][10]

Romanian formed several words from it: prunar “plum grower”, also the name of a weevil, and prunet and prunărie “plum orchard”.^[2] Tiktin records the diminutives prunuț, prunic and prunișor.^[5] Pușcariu and Ciorănescu note that Ruthenian borrowed the word from Romanian.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 1436 – the first record that Tiktin gives.^[5]
• c. 1650–1700 – prun in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[3]
• 1825 – prunu “plum tree”, glossed Latin prunus and Hungarian szilvafa, in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[11]
• 1870 – prunŭ “plum tree” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plum tree (Prunus domestica), a fruit tree of the rose family with greenish-white flowers, grown for its edible fruit, the prună.^[4][3][1]
2. (regional) In set names, other trees of the genus: prun gogoneț the bullace and prun sălbatic the bird cherry, also called mălin.^[3][10]

Word family

• prună
• prunet
• prunărie
• prunar

Related words

• perj
• Aromanian prun
• Latin prūnus

Usage notes

A regional idiom, a umbla cu mintea prin pruni “to go with one's mind among the plum trees”, means “to have no sense”.^[3] The plural is pruni.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. prun
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 582
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 891
5. ^ 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. prun
6. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 122
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6800
8. ^ a b 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. 1, 147
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 236
10. ^ a b c Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 236
11. ^ 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. 557
12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 376