săcui

Forms

săcui n (plural săcuie)^[1]

Etymology

DEX and Wiktionary take it as probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *sacculeus, from Latin sacculus (“a small bag”), a view Ciorănescu attributes to Candrea.^[2][1][3] The DLR and MDA2 take it as a diminutive from Romanian sac + -ui, and Ciorănescu lists it among the diminutives of the noun.^[4][5][3] Scriban also calls it a diminutive.^[6]

Pascu derives Aromanian sãculj (“small bag”) from the same Latin form.^[7][1] Wiktionary compares Albanian shakull, from the same diminutive.^[1] The Latin diminutive is formed on saccus (“sack, bag”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Budai-Deleanu's Romanian–German lexicon of 1818, for a small bag.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a small bag hung from the neck and also the cloth bag in which honeycombs or curd cheese are pressed and drained.^[2][9] In Oltenia and south-western Transylvania it also names a sausage stuffed in a pig's caecum and, at Lupeni, a muzzle for calves.^[4][5] Scriban records it from Serbia for a bag or satchel.^[6]

Timeline

• 1818 – in Budai-Deleanu's lexicon, the first record.^[5]
• 1914 – children with little bags round their necks in Pamfile's study of Christmas customs.^[4][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) A small bag worn hung from the neck; a little pouch.^[2][1]
2. (regional) A cloth bag in which honeycombs or curd cheese are pressed.^[2][10]
3. (regional) A sausage stuffed in a pig's caecum.^[5][4]
4. (regional) A muzzle for calves.^[5][4]

Related words

• sac
• săculeț
• Aromanian sãculj

Usage notes

The plural is săcuie.^[2] The DLR and MDA2 also list săcui¹, a variant of secui “Székely”, and the verb săcui³, a variant of secui².^[11][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 978
3. ^ 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. sac
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. săcui²
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 765
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1159
7. ^ 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, 150
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 19
10. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. săcui
11. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. săcui¹