răzbunare

Forms

răzbunare f (plural răzbunări)^[1] Older texts spell it răsbunare or resbunare: Bălcescu wrote „Poporul exasperat ceru răsbunare” “the exasperated people demanded revenge”, and Russo „Vremile însă de resbunare au trecut” “but the times of revenge have passed”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is the long infinitive of răzbuna (“to avenge”), formed from Romanian răzbuna + -re.^[4][3][2][1] The verb is itself a Romanian formation from the prefix răz- and the adjective bun (“good”).^[4][3][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the noun to 1809, in the sense of revenge.^[6] MDA2 takes its first record from Heliade-Rădulescu, who wrote of people laughing with a laugh of revenge.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb is much older than the noun and first meant something else: in the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582 it means “to rest, to leave off work” on the seventh day.^[7] Folk speech kept a sense “to cheer up, to make glad”, and of the weather “to clear up”, which also gives the noun a regional sense of the sky clearing.^[7][4][3]

The DLR's quotations of the noun begin in the 19th century, all in the sense of vengeance: Asachi glossed the word vendetă with it, and Bălcescu, Russo, Alecsandri, Eminescu and Creangă used it.^[2] It names both the act of taking revenge oneself and the punishment of a wrongdoer on behalf of someone who cannot do it himself.^[3]

Timeline

• 1581-1582 – the verb răzbuna “to rest” in the Palia de la Orăștie.^[7]
• 1809 – the noun, first record.^[6]
• 19th century – răsbunare and resbunare in Bălcescu and Russo.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. revenge, vengeance: the act of avenging oneself or someone else on the person who did a wrong, and its result.^[4][3][1]
2. (regional) The clearing up of the weather.^[3][6]

Related words

• răzbunător
• bun

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. răzbunare
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 652
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 921
5. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. răzbuna
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. răzbunare
7. ^ 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. răzbuna