răpune

Forms

răpune (third-person singular present răpune, past participle răpus, third-person subjunctive răpună) 3rd conjugation^[1] The simple past is răpusei; old and regional forms have the stem rep- and the present răpui.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin repōnō (“to put back, lay down”).^{[3][2][4][5][1]} Candrea and Densusianu explain the senses from “to put back, lay down”: “to throw down”, then “to make fall”, “to defeat” and “to kill”.^[6] Șăineanu glossed the Latin as “to put aside, lay in the grave”.^[7] The Latin verb is formed from re- and pōnō (“to put”), the source of pune.^[1][8]

The Romance cognates include Italian riporre, Occitan repondre, Spanish reponer and Portuguese repor, and Old French repondre “to hide”.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the dictionary of the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, about 1670.^[9] MDA2 dates it from Miron Costin.^[2] In the chronicles of the following decades it means “to lose”: Neculce has „de-am răpus oaste”, “so that I lost the army”.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the verb meant “to lose, squander, ruin”: a chronicle tells of a son who spent and lost his father's whole fortune on drink, and a document of 1754 speaks of a debtor who pledged himself so as not to lose what he had.^[5][9] With capul, viața or zilele it meant “to lose one's life”, and with a dative of the person “to take someone's life”, the source of the modern sense “to kill”.^[9][2][10] Regional texts also have it for “to lose one's way”.^[2]

In modern Romanian it is a popular or literary word for “to kill” and “to overcome, defeat”, also figuratively of a debate.^[3][11] Folk religion has a răpune sufletul cuiva, “to lead someone's soul into sin”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, the first record.^[9]
• early 18th century – au răpus oastea “had lost the army”, of a vizier, in a text printed in the Magazin istoric.^[5]
• 1754 – răpuie “lose” in a document.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, popular) To kill, to slay: Lupul a răpus două oi din turmă.^[3][2][1]
2. (reflexive) To lose one's life, to perish.^[3][2]
3. To bring down, destroy or defeat an adversary.^[3][2][1]
4. (figurative) To overcome someone in an argument or a contest of ideas.^[3][2]
5. (archaic, popular) To lose; to squander, ruin.^[2][9][5]

Word family

• răpuitor

Related words

• pune

Usage notes

Old set phrases include a-și răpune capul (viața, zilele) “to lose one's life”, a răpune pe cineva de zile “to kill someone” and a răpune din vedere “to lose sight of”.^[2][9]

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 k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 637
3. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 916
4. ^ 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. răpune
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. răpune
6. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
7. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 532
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ 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. răpune
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 669
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. răpune