rezema

Forms

rezema (third-person singular present reazemă, past participle rezemat, third-person subjunctive rezeme) 1st conjugation^[1] Old texts have răzima and răzma, the latter in the old literary language; the Psaltirea Scheiană has „Din Sion razime-te pre tine” “from Zion may he support you”.^[2][3] The variant răzima is regional today;^[1] MDA2 lists many more, among them răzăma, rasima, arăzăma and răzuma.^[4][5]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain: DEX, DLR and Tiktin call it unknown.^[4][3][2] In Ciorănescu's view it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rhizomō, from Ancient Greek ῥιζόομαι (rhizóomai, “to be firmly rooted, to rest on”) (perfect ἐρρίζωμαι (errhízōmai)), which he connects with ῥίζωμα (rhízōma, “rooting”); the Greek word is from ῥίζα (rhíza, “root”).^[6][1] Wiktionary gives that view and, as the alternative, Vulgar Latin *remediō with metathesis, from remedium.^[1] The second was the proposal of Scriban and Giuglea, also in the REW, who took the Latin word in the sense “strengthening”;^[7] Pușcariu and Philippide had traced the verb to the Latin word for “root”, rādīx, and Cihac to Slavic, explanations that Ciorănescu finds insufficient.^[6]

The verb survives south of the Danube: Aromanian aradzim, from which Papahagi gives no etymology.^[7][6] Ciorănescu takes that word, and the Albanian word for “abyss” compared with it, rather from the Modern Greek word for the foot of a mountain, Modern Greek ρίζωμα (rízoma).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century.^[5][2] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has the verb a dozen times as răzima.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is to set something so that it leans on something else and does not fall, and, reflexive, to lean against something.^[4][5] Old texts also had a o rezema undeva “to make for somewhere, to reach a place”: Dionisie wrote of fugitives who ran until they reached Buda, „au răzmat-o la cetatea Buda”.^[2][5] Beside the figurative “to rely on, to be based on”, the old language used it intransitively for “to fall within, to depend on”.^[2][4] The colloquial a rezema pereții “to prop up the walls” means to sit out a dance or to idle about.^[4][3] The noun reazem “support” is first recorded in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – the verb in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[5][2]
• c. 1573-1578 – razime-te and the noun reazem in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[3][9]
• c. 1660 – razimă in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon, glossing a Slavonic word for “leaning”.^[10]
• 1688 – răzima in the Bucharest Bible.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To lean or prop something so that it is held up by something else; to lean on or against: Își rezemă bicicleta de gard.^[4][1]
2. (reflexive, figurative) To rely on, to be based on: Concluzia se reazemă pe date noi.^[4][5]
3. (colloquial) a rezema pereții: to sit out a dance; to idle.^[4]

Word family

• reazem
• rezemătoare
• rezemătură

Related words

• Aromanian aradzim

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. rezema
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. rezema
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 952
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 705
6. ^ a b c d 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. rezema
7. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 126
8. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 17:12
9. ^ 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, 703
10. ^ 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. razimă