ramură

Forms

ramură f (plural ramuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is a singular formed from Romanian ram “branch”, from its plural ⟨ramuri⟩.^[2][3][4] Ciorănescu follows Byck and Graur, Rosetti and Graur here, and for the neuter plural compares the old Italian plural ramora.^[2] He also allows a start from Latin rāmula, as REW and Scriban do;^[2][5] Scriban takes it as the diminutive of the Latin word for “branch”.^[2][5] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[1] ram itself continues rāmus (“branch”).^[2][6]

Ciorănescu records Megleno-Romanian ramură.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1646, in the Moldavian law code (Pravila), where the branches of a tree overshadow a neighbour's vineyard.^[3][7] The Slavonic–Romanian lexicons of 1660 and after use it to gloss Slavonic вѣтвь “branch”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning is a branch of a tree or a plant.^[4] It was soon used of each tine of a stag's antlers and of the arms of a candlestick.^[3][9] In the 19th century the meaning widened to any subdivision: of a river, a mountain range, an artery or a nerve, a family or a people, and of a science or an activity.^[10][4] Costinescu also records ramura măslinului “the olive branch” of peace and Duminica ramurilor “Palm Sunday”.^[10] The compound ramură-cheie “key branch (of industry)” appears in the press from 1970.^[11]

Timeline

• 1646 – in the Moldavian law code, the first record.^[3]
• 1660 – glosses Slavonic вѣтвь “branch” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[8]
• 1688 – ramurile “the branches” in the Bucharest Bible.^[12]
• 1870 – figurative senses (branches of a family, of a sect, of veins and nerves) in Costinescu.^[10]
• 1970 – ramură-cheie “key branch” in the press.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A branch, bough: each of the offshoots of the stem of a plant.^[4][1]
2. Each tine of the antlers of a stag or a roe deer.^[4]
3. A secondary division of something, as of a river, a mountain range, an artery or a nerve.^[13][4]
4. (figurative) A branch of a family or a people.^[4]
5. (figurative) A division or sector of a science or of a practical activity: o ramură a fizicii “a branch of physics”.^[4][5]

Word family

• rămurea

Related words

• ram
• ramifica
• Latin rāmus

Usage notes

The plural ramuri serves both ramură and ram.^[4][6]

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 Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ramură
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 911
5. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1087
6. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 622
7. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ram
8. ^ 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. ramură
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 653
10. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 397
11. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. ramură
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Matthew 13:32
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 884