sain

Forms

sain n (plural sainuri)^[1]

Etymology

DER takes it as inherited from Latin suīnus (“of swine”), following P. Papahagi and Rosetti, and Wiktionary gives the same etymon.^[2][1] The DLR and MDA2 only compare the Latin feminine suīna, and MDA2 marks the origin as uncertain.^[3][4] The Latin adjective is formed on sūs (“pig”) with the suffix -īnus.^[1]

Tiktin compares Latin sagīna (“fattening”), Spanish sain, Old Italian saime (“pork fat”) and the Latin adjective after Rosetti.^[5] Scriban sets it beside German Schwein (“pig”) and the Latin noun for fattening.^[6] DER compares Aromanian săin, which Papahagi records as a grey colour of wool mixed with coarse hairs;^[2][7] Papahagi lists for it the derivation from the Latin adjective and other proposals.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1815, in Dionisie's chronicle: the Germans were given „sainuri, cărnuri de porc” “sains, pork meats”, and a Kalmyk ate his meat plain „când nu i se întâmpla sain” “when he happened to have no pork”.^[5][3] DER puts the word in the 18th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word is known only in the sense “pork” and is now archaic: the DLR has no record after Dionisie's chronicle apart from the dictionaries of Tiktin and Scriban.^[3][2][4] MDA2's first date, 1903, is the year of Tiktin's dictionary.^[4]

Timeline

• 1815 – sain and the plural sainuri “pork” in Dionisie's chronicle.^[5][3]
• 1903 – entered in Tiktin's dictionary, MDA2's first record.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) pork, the meat of the pig.^{[3][4][5][8][1]}

Related words

• porc
• sein

Usage notes

MDA2 and the DLR also list a homograph sain (feminine saină), a variant of sein “light grey”, said of sheep's wool.^[4][3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. sain
3. ^ 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. sain
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 746
5. ^ 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. sain
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1148
7. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 918
8. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sain
9. ^ Iordan, Iorgu (1983), Dicționar al numelor de familie românești, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 404