repede

Forms

repede m or f or n (plural repezi)^[1] răpide: „Unde cură apa răpide” “where the water runs fast” (Nicolae Costin's chronicle).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rapidus (“swift, tearing along”) and the adverb rapidē.^{[1][3][4][2][5][6]} The Latin adjective is formed from rapiō (“to snatch”).^[1] Istro-Romanian has răpede;^[5][6] Pușcariu records other words for “quick” in Aromanian.^[5][6] Ciorănescu compares Italian ratto.^[5]

The ending ⟨-e⟩ is unexpected for a Latin adjective in ⟨-us⟩.^[7] Wiktionary takes it from the adverb, which merged with the adjective; the western Transylvanian rapăd keeps the adjectival form.^[1] Ciorănescu, citing Todoran on that form, holds that the change of ending is recent, so Pușcariu's Latin *rapidis is not needed; he compares limpede.^[5] Graur, who calls the link with the Latin word certain, also explains the ⟨e⟩ of the stem: in derivatives such as repezi the unstressed ⟨a⟩ became ⟨ă⟩ and then ⟨e⟩, and he takes the standard form and regional răpede as formed back from them.^[7] Ciorănescu suggests that the sense “steep” may come from crossing with rīpidus (“steep”), the source of Italian ripido.^[5] The REW, after Weigand, compared an Albanian word and took the Romanian one from Albanian;^[8][5] Ciorănescu does not mention this.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from the Slavonic–Romanian documents of about 1513.^[9] In Romanian texts it appears in the Psaltirea Scheiană, MDA2's first record (Psalm 148).^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

The Latin senses “swift” and “tearing along” of rivers both live on, with “steep” as a third.^[5][4] Tiktin quotes Dosoftei's verse Psalter, where the cherubim are repezi ca vântul “swift as the wind”, and a părău repede și rece “a rushing cold brook”.^[9] As an adverb it means “quickly” and also “soon, early”.^[4][5] A small beetle, the tiger beetle Cicindela campestris, is called repede.^[5][4]

The verb repezi “to throw; to send quickly; to rush at” has its own large family: repeziciune, repezeală, repeziș “slope” and repejor.^[5] Transylvanian Saxon borrowed the verb as repezin.^[5] The 19th-century neologism rapid comes from the same Latin word.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1513 – in the Slavonic–Romanian documents.^[9]
• c. 1573–1578 – in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[3][10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. fast, quick: of movements, done without delay; of things, moving at speed; of waters, flowing fast.^[4][1]
2. Of time, passing quickly.^[4]
3. Of people, quick in their movements, nimble; hasty: un om repede la mânie.^[4]
4. Of rain or wind, intense and short.^[4]
5. Of hills and slopes, steep.^[4][5]
6. Of roads, leading to the goal by the shortest way.^[4]

Adverb

1. quickly, in a hurry: Vino repede!; at once, suddenly.^[4][1]
2. Early; too soon: S-a întunecat repede.^[4]

Word family

• repezi
• repezeală
• repezit
• repezitură
• repeziș
• repeziciune
• repejune
• repejor

Related words

• rapid
• limpede
• Latin rapidus

Usage notes

Repede-repejor means “at once, without delay”.^[4][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. repede
3. ^ 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, 691
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 943
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. repede
6. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 130
7. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. repede
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7054
9. ^ 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. repede
10. ^ 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 148:8