ram

Forms

ram n (plural ramuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rāmus (“branch, bough”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin noun probably comes from an older form related to rādīx (“root”).^[6][7] De Vaan points out that a related Greek word could mean either “branch” or “root”.^[7]

The plural in ⟨-uri⟩ matches the old neuter plural Italian ramora.^[2] Byck and Graur, Rosetti and Graur derived the parallel noun ramură from this plural, as a new singular made from it.^[2] The REW and Scriban instead start from Latin rāmula.^[2] The form Megleno-Romanian ramură has the same shape;^[2][8] Capidan derives it from a Latin collective.^[2][8] The Romance cognates include Italian ramo, Catalan ram, Spanish ramo and Portuguese ramo.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 gives the Bucharest Bible of 1688 as the first record of ram “branch”.^[3][10] The plural ramuri is older: it occurs in 17th-century texts such as the Moldavian law code of 1646, where it may belong to ramură.^[5][11]

Semantic evolution

Ram and ramură share their senses: the branch of a tree or plant, then anything that branches, such as a branch of an artery or nerve, a tine of a stag's antlers, an arm of a river or a spur of a mountain range.^[3] Figuratively they name a branch of a family or people and a division of a science or of an activity.^[3][12]

Scriban noted ram as Transylvanian in 1784 and labelled its present use a rare neologism.^[13] DEX defines it by ramură, the usual word.^[4] Eminescu uses it in the line „tot ce mișcă-n țara asta, râul, ramul” “all that moves in this country, the river, the branch”.^[12]

Timeline

• 1646 – ramurile “the branches” in the Moldavian law code.^[11][5]
• 1688 – ram in the Bucharest Bible, its first record in MDA2.^[3][10]
• 1784 – a Transylvanian record noted by Scriban.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A branch of a tree or plant, a bough; the same as ramură.^[4][3][1]
2. (figurative, dated) A branch or field of knowledge or activity.^[12][3]

Word family

• rămurea
• rămuriș
• rămuros

Related words

• ramură
• dărâma
• Latin rāmus

Usage notes

MDA2 also lists ram as a variant of ramă “frame”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. ram
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, 622
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 911
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ram
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 245
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7035
10. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 1 Chr 2:25
11. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. rámură
12. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 652
13. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1086