rusesc

Forms

rusesc m or n (feminine singular rusească, plural rusești)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian rus + -esc, from the noun “Russian” with the adjective suffix of origin.^[2][3][4][1] The noun rus is from Russian русь (rusʹ).^[3][1]

Ciorănescu lists a second sense, “cursed, damned”, which he connects with the same word in the sense “red, fair”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Mihail Moxa's text of 1620, with the sense “Russian”.^[4] MDA2 dates it from a text of 1642 in Gaster's chrestomathy, a translation „de în limba rusască pre limba rumânească”, “from the Russian language into the Romanian language”.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first named the old Rus' and its language, then Russia and, later, Soviet Russia.^[6][3] The old form rosesc occurs in 19th-century texts: Zilot calls Kutuzov commander of „oștile rosești”, “the Russian armies”.^[6][3] As a noun the feminine rusească was the Russian language, and regionally it is the north wind and a dance, the căzăceasca.^[3] Tiktin records jocular names for brandy, agheazmă rusească “Russian holy water” and cafea rusească “Russian coffee”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1620 – the first record, in Mihail Moxa's text.^[4]
• 1642 – limba rusască “the Russian language” in a text of Gaster's chrestomathy.^[3][6]
• 1825 – Împărăția Rusească “the Russian Empire” in the Lexicon of Buda.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Russian: belonging to Russia or the Russians, or typical of them: ceai rusesc “Russian tea”.^[2][8]
2. rusească (feminine, as a noun) – the Russian language;^[3] (regional) the north wind; a Cossack dance.^[3]
3. (regional) Cursed, damned.^[5]

Word family

• rusește

Related words

• rus
• Rusia
• rusienesc

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 968
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 738
4. ^ 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. rusesc
5. ^ a b 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. rus
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. rusesc
7. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 599
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 790