sandviș

Forms

sandviș n (plural sandvișuri)^[1] The variant sandvici, with the English pronunciation, is the headword of DEX 2009; other forms are sanviș, senvici and senviș, and the word was also spelled sandwich and sandvich.^[2][3][4] Besides the plural sandvișuri a rare plural sandvișe is recorded by Scriban and the CADE.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sandwich, with English sandwich as a second source.^[3][4][5][6] Wiktionary takes this form from French and the doublet sandvici from English.^[1] The French word, recorded from 1802, comes from the English one, a word of 1762 made from the title of John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, whose cook is said to have invented this quick meal so that his master need not leave the gaming table.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Antonescu's dictionary of 1862.^[3] The DLR lists it from Antonescu, Alexi and Șăineanu before its first literary quotations, from Camil Petrescu and Mihail Sebastian.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a slice of bread, usually buttered, with a cold food such as ham, salami or cheese on it, often covered by a second slice.^[6][3] Several forms competed: the DLR quotes sandvici and the English spelling sandwich beside sandviș, and DEX 2009 chose sandvici as its headword.^[4][2]

Colloquially a face sandviș pe cineva means “to crush someone (between two others)” or “to give someone a beating”.^[3][4] The word is also used like an adjective for anything placed between two layers, as in metoda sandvici, a method in which a thin sheet of material is laid between two layers of photographic emulsion.^[4] The compound om-sandviș “sandwich man”, a man carrying advertising boards on his chest and back, is recorded from 1978.^[9]

Timeline

• 1862 – first record, in Antonescu's dictionary.^[3]
• 1978 – om-sandviș “sandwich man” in the newspaper România liberă.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sandwich: a slice of bread, usually with unt, topped with cold food such as șuncă, salam or brânză, often under a second slice.^[6][3][10]
2. (colloquial) In a face sandviș pe cineva: to crush someone between two others, or to beat someone up.^[3][4]

Word family

• om-sandviș

Related words

• sandvici
• English sandwich

Usage notes

DEX 2009 enters the word under the variant sandvici and sends sandviș there;^[2][3][4][1] MDA2, the DLR and Wiktionary use sandviș.^[2][3][4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 974
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 755
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sandviș
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
6. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 945
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional