sălbatic

Forms

sălbatic m or n (feminine singular sălbatică, masculine plural sălbatici, feminine/neuter plural sălbatice)^[1] The 16th-century psalters write sălbatec, from the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki on (Psalm 79:14).^[2] MDA2 records the old variants salbatec and selbatec and a regional sărbatic.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin salvāticus, the popular form of Latin silvāticus (“of the woods, wild”), from silva (“forest”).^[4][5][1][6] MDA2, the DLR and Wiktionary start from the classical form.^[3][7][1] Its cognate south of the Danube is Megleno-Romanian sălbatic.^[4][8] The Romance cognates include Italian salvatico, Occitan salvatge and French sauvage.^[4]

Ciorănescu notes that the Romanian word passed into Ruthenian as the name of a kind of goblin (after Candrea).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is sălbatec in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (about 1500–1520), in Psalm 79:14; the other 16th-century psalters have the same form.^[2][5] MDA2 dates its first record to before 1560.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word first described wild animals and plants: beasts living in the wild and fleeing man, and plants that grow by themselves, uncultivated or ungrafted.^[3][7] Set phrases name wild varieties: miere sălbatică “wild honey”, gâște sălbatice “wild geese” and, in old use, vin selbatec, wine from ungrafted vines.^[5][3]

From animals and plants it passed to places, wild and uninhabited, and to people: primitive peoples, the uncivilized, the shy and unsociable, and the cruel or brutal.^[9][5][3] Its derivatives include the verb sălbătici “to become wild” and the nouns sălbăticie “wildness” and sălbăticiune “wild beast”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – sălbatec in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (Psalm 79:14), the first record.^[2]
• before 1560 – a record in Gaster's chrestomathy.^[3]
• c. 1573–1578 – sălbatec in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[5][2]
• 1688 – sălbatic, sălbatec and their plurals in the Bucharest Bible.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of animals: not domesticated or tamed; by extension hard to master, fiery; shy, easily frightened.^[9][1]
2. Of plants: growing by itself, not cultivated or not grafted.^[9][3]
3. Made by nature, without human work; natural, unrefined; of land, untilled.^[9]
4. Of regions and places: desolate, uninhabited, remote from civilization.^[9]
5. Belonging to a primitive people; rudimentary, backward.^[9]
6. Of people: lacking humanity; cruel, violent, brutal; used adverbially, savagely.^[9]

Noun

1. A savage: a member of a primitive people, or an uncivilized, coarse person.^[9][5]

Word family

• sălbătici
• sălbăticie
• sălbăticime
• sălbăticos
• sălbăție
• sălbăticiune
• însălbătici

Related words

• Megleno-Romanian sălbatic
• Latin silvāticus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 79:14
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 769
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. sălbatic
5. ^ 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. sălbatic
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7922
7. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sălbatic
8. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 255
9. ^ 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. 979
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Psaltirea 79:14