scăpăra

Forms

scăpăra (third-person singular present scapără, past participle scăpărat), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is not settled: DEX gives it as of unknown origin, and Ciorănescu calls it doubtful.^[2][3] Ciorănescu suggests, with reserve, Vulgar Latin *excapulō (“to set free”), comparing Italian scapolare (“to set loose”), and notes that the sense “to strike sparks” is easy to derive from “to let out”.^[3][4] He adds that the forms south of the Danube speak against this, since the word survives there as Aromanian ascapir and Megleno-Romanian scapir.^[3][5][6] Wiktionary gives the same Vulgar Latin verb as one possibility.^[1]

Tiktin found the word to match Latin caperō (“to wrinkle”) in sound and took it for an inherited word, with Albanian shkrep (“to flash, strike sparks”) of the same origin.^[7] The REW finds this link hard to accept in meaning, and Ciorănescu rejects it too, as well as Cihac's Ancient Greek στράπτω (stráptō, “to flash”).^[8][3] Meyer, Philippide and Rosetti compared the Albanian verb, which Demiraj explains as a form with the prefix ⟨sh-⟩ of an onomatopoeic root meaning “to crack”.^[3][9] Ștef's Maramureș dictionary lists the verb among the native words, after Philippide, Rosetti, Russu, Brâncuș and Vraciu.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, a Romanian–Latin glossary of about 1670.^[7] MDA2 dates the verb to the Bucharest Bible of 1688, where it already means to strike a flint with a steel and raise sparks to light tinder.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The core sense, striking fire from a flint, extends to the sparks that hard bodies, fire and lightning give off.^[2][11] Figurative uses describe a sudden flash: a thought that crosses the mind, eyes that glitter with hunger or anger.^[2][7] Phrases measure speed: cât ai scăpăra din amnar “in an instant” and a-i scăpăra picioarele “to run very fast”.^[2][11]

Romanian formed the derivatives scăpărământ, scăpărător, scăpărătoare “flint, fire steel” and scăpărătură “flash”.^[3] Ștef records the Maramureș word as the source of Hungarian szkeperál.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – first recorded in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary.^[7]
• 1688 – “to strike sparks with a fire steel” in the Bucharest Bible.^[11]
• 1929 – Șăineanu gives the figurative sense “to burn with anger”, as in ochii leului scapără.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To strike sparks from a flint with a fire steel; of stones and hard bodies, to give off sparks when struck.^[2][11]
2. To strike a match.^[2]
3. Of fire, to throw out sparks; of lightning, to flash out.^[2][13]
4. (figurative) To appear suddenly, to flash: mi-a scăpărat un gând prin minte “a thought flashed through my mind”.^[2]
5. To sparkle, glitter; of eyes, to flash with feeling.^[2][7]

Word family

• scăpărător
• scăpărătoare
• scăpărătură
• scăpărământ

Usage notes

Phrases: cât ai scăpăra din amnar “in a flash”, a-i scăpăra cuiva picioarele “to run like the wind”, a scăpăra din picioare “to stamp with impatience” and a-i scăpăra cuiva ochii “to be starving, furious or in great pain”.^[2] A rare regional verb scăpăra “of must, to ferment”, from Oltenia, is a separate formation with the prefix s- on căpăra.^[14][11][15]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 986
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. scăpăra
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2955
5. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
6. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 259
7. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. scăpăra
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1624b
9. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz, Amsterdam / Atlanta: Rodopi (Leiden Studies in Indo-European 7)
10. ^ a b Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. scăpăra
11. ^ 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, 795
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 571
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 42
14. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. scăpăra
15. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. scăpăra