răpitor

Forms

răpitor m or n (feminine singular răpitoare, masculine plural răpitori, feminine/neuter plural răpitoare)^[1] Klein's dictionary of 1801 has the form răpitoriu: „Rapitóriu, e, Raptor”.^[2] hrăpitor: „Ciocoi aprig, hrăpitor, spaima răzeșilor” “a fierce upstart, grasping, the terror of the freeholders” (Alecsandri).^[3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian răpi + -tor, the agent suffix on the verb “to snatch, to abduct”.^{[5][4][3][6][1]} Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of răpi, which he traces to Latin rapīre.^[7] The MDA2 gives a reconstructed Vulgar Latin *rapīre for the classical verb.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A text of about 1569–1575 calls robbers răpitori vinovați, “guilty plunderers”.^[3] The psalters have it too: Coresi's Psalter of 1570 has răpitorii in Psalm 34, and the Psaltirea Scheiană has the same verse, the poor man saved “from his robbers”.^[8][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The old sense was “robber, plunderer”, a person who takes what belongs to others; the 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons give it as the equivalent of a Slavonic word for “robber, predator”.^[3][9] In the New Testament of 1648 and the Bible of 1688 it is the wolves in sheep's clothing, lupi răpitori.^[3][10] It was also said of animals and birds that live on prey, and păsări răpitoare became the name of the birds of prey, later răpitoare as a plural noun.^[3][6][5]

The DLR quotes the sense “abductor” from a Pravila and Budai-Deleanu, and has the figurative “grasping, usurping” as well.^[3][5] A figurative sense, “ravishing, enchanting”, is quoted from Anton Pann's songs: „Ce cântece răpitoare!”.^[3] Scriban compares French ravissant for this sense.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1569–1575 – răpitori “plunderers”, the first record.^[3]
• 1570 – răpitorii in Coresi's Psalter, Psalm 34.^[8]
• 1648 – lupi răpitori in the New Testament of 1648.^[3]
• c. 1660–1670 – the equivalent of Slavonic “robber” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[9]
• 1801 – rapitóriu in Klein's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (often as a noun) Who abducts someone; an abductor.^[5][4]
2. Of animals, predatory: catching and eating other animals.^[5] As a feminine plural noun, răpitoare names the birds of prey.^[5][3][1]
3. (figurative) rapacious, grasping; usurping.^[5][12]
4. (figurative) ravishing, enchanting, fermecător: o voce răpitoare.^[5][12][1]

Related words

• răpi
• răpire
• rapt

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 430
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. răpitor
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 637
5. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 916
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. răpitor
7. ^ 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. răpi
8. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 34:12
9. ^ a b 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. răpitor
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Mt 7:15
11. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1095
12. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. răpitor