rinichi

Forms

rinichi m (plural rinichi)^[1] Old texts have rănichi: the Bucharest Bible of 1688 reads „Și vei lua de la berbeace ... rănichii amândoi” “and you shall take from the ram ... both kidneys”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *reniclus, from Latin rēniculus (“little kidney”), a diminutive of rēn (“kidney”).^[4][5][6][1] Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu and the REW for this etymology.^[4][7]

It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian arniclju.^[4][8][1] The REW gives the Campidanese Sardinian arrigu as a cognate.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form rănichi in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1649;^[3] Tiktin cites a text of about 1660, and MDA2 the Bible of 1688.^[3][9][6] The sense is “kidney”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its anatomical sense; the Bible of 1688 uses it of the kidneys of sacrificial animals.^[2] It belongs to the south: Ciorănescu, after the linguistic atlas, places it in Muntenia and Dobruja, while the other regions say rărunchi.^[4] Banat has mămuc and momic.^[2] Medicine added rinichi artificial “dialysis machine”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1649 – rănichi in Mardarie's lexicon.^[3]
• c. 1660 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[9]
• 1688 – rănichii in the Bucharest Bible.^[6][2]
• 1733 – boale la rinichi “kidney diseases” in a calendar.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. kidney: each of the two organs in the lumbar region, on either side of the spine, that form and pass urine.^[5][6][1]
2. (medicine) In rinichi artificial, a dialysis machine that temporarily takes over the work of the kidneys.^[5]

Related words

• rărunchi
• Aromanian arniclju

Usage notes

Rinichi and rărunchi are inherited from the same Latin stem;^[5] rărunchi is the popular word in most regions.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. rinichi
3. ^ a b c d e f Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 249
4. ^ a b c d e 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. rinichi
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 956
6. ^ 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, 713
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7029
8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 124
9. ^ 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. rinichi