rugină

Forms

rugină f (plural rugini)^[1]

Etymology

It is most often explained as inherited from Vulgar Latin *aerūgina, a variant of Latin aerūgō (“copper rust, verdigris”).^[2][3][4][1] Pușcariu, Pascu, Candrea and the REW take this view;^[5][2] Tiktin compares lumină for the stress on the ending.^[5][2] MDA2 and DEX are cautious and only compare the Latin word.^[6][4] The Latin noun is formed on aes (“copper, bronze”).^[7][1]

Ciorănescu derives it instead from rūbīgō (“rust; blight of grain”), as Diez and Philippide did, comparing French rouille, Occitan rovilh and Spanish robín; he finds both etymons possible in sound, and the shift of stress difficult with either.^[5] Ivănescu explained the stress as a back-formation from the verb rugini, and Graur first agreed.^[8] Graur later proposed a crossing of the two Latin words, since the Romanian word also names a disease of wheat, which Latin called by the second word; the REW records the same crossing in Engadine.^[8]

It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian arudzinã, which Papahagi and Pascu also derive from the Vulgar Latin form.^[9][10] Italian has ruggine, with old dialect forms in northern Italy.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1490, in the Slavonic-language charters.^[2] In Romanian texts it appears in the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583).^[6] The 1688 Bible uses it for the rust of a cauldron.^[11]

Semantic evolution

From the rust on iron the word came to name a brown crust on stones, an old rusty object, and figuratively an outdated idea or a person who holds one: rugină veche “an old fogey”.^[4][2] Tiktin quotes the gospel verse on treasures “where moth and rust doth corrupt” and the phrase rugina veacurilor “the rust of the ages”.^[2] The colour gave regional names for animals with rust-coloured spots.^[6] A second branch of senses names plant diseases caused by rust fungi (Puccinia) and the soft rush Juncus effusus.^[4][5]

Ciorănescu notes that a Bulgarian dialect word and a Romani verb, ruğinav, “to spoil” come from the Romanian word.^[5]

Timeline

• 1490 – first record, in the Slavonic-language charters.^[2]
• c. 1563–1583 – rugină in the Codicele Voronețean.^[6]
• c. 1660–1670 – rugină in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[12]
• 1688 – rugină in the Bucharest Bible.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. rust: the reddish-brown, crumbly substance formed on iron by oxidation; also a brown film on stones from the iron in them.^[4][1]
2. An old, neglected iron object; a piece of junk.^[4][5]
3. (figurative) An outdated idea or way of thinking; a person who holds such views.^[4]
4. A plant disease caused by microscopic fungi (Puccinia) that leaves rust-brown spots on leaves and stems.^[4]
5. The soft rush (Juncus effusus); synonym of pipirig.^[4][5]

Word family

• ruginare
• rugini
• ruginătură
• ruginiu
• ruginos

Related words

• Aromanian arudzinã
• Latin aerugo

Usage notes

A prinde rugină means “to rust”.^[2] Besides the plural rugini, a regional plural rugine occurs.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. rugină
3. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 133
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. 966
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. rugină
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 734
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 15
8. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. rugină
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 153
10. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 41
11. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Iezechiil 24:6
12. ^ 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. rugină