răpciune

Forms

răpciune m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown: DEX, NODEX and DLR say so, and DLR and MDA2 compare răpi “to snatch”.^[2][3][4][5]

Pușcariu and Tiktin derived it from the accusative of Latin raptiōnem (“a carrying off”), taken in the sense “grape harvest”.^[6][7] Tiktin compares the folk month name vinicer “month of the vintage” and Serbo-Croatian jematva “grape harvest, September”, from a verb meaning “to gather”.^[7] Wiktionary compares the Alemannic German sense of Raub “harvest yield” beside the standard “robbery”.^[1] Drăganu and the REW proposed Vulgar Latin *rapatiōnem, from rāpa (“turnip”), with the sense “turnip harvest”.^[6][1] DER finds all these explanations forced.^[6] Pușcariu later took the word for an artificial creation of the Transylvanian Latinists, which DER thinks even less likely and Tiktin calls a mistake.^[6][7] DER adds that the ending -ciune does not prove a Latin word, since the suffix also joins Slavic bases, as in slăbiciune.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581, which places a feast „în luna lu răpciuni” “in the month of September”.^[4][5][7]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the folk calendar, in which each month had a name of its own: Alecsandri listed it with vinicer as the popular names of September.^[4][8] A calendar of 1841 has the saying „Ce nu poate cuptor, agust și răpciune coace, brumariu mic nu poate frige”, “what July, August and September cannot ripen, little October cannot roast”.^[4] Caragiale dated letters by it, and Sadoveanu still used it in the 20th century.^[4]

In some dialects it named another month: December according to Jipescu and Vârcol, and August in the form râpciune at Prundu Bârgăului in Bistrița.^[4][7][5] Regional variants include răpciun, răpciuni and răpiciune.^[4][7][6]

Timeline

• 1581 – „în luna lu răpciuni” in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură, the first record.^[4][5]
• 1841 – in a weather saying of a Calendariu.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (popular, dated) September: Strugurii se culeg pe la sfârșitul lui răpciune.^[2][5][1]
2. (regional) August, in the form râpciune.^[5][4]
3. (regional) December.^[4][7]

Related words

• brumărel
• cuptor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 916
3. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. răpciune
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. răpciune
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 636
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. răpciune
7. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. răpciune
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 668