sculă

Forms

sculă f (plural scule)^[1]

Etymology

The origin of the word is unknown: DEX, NODEX, Tiktin and Wiktionary give no etymon.^[2][3][4][1] Șăineanu also called it of unknown origin, noting only that a Modern Greek word of the same sound means “skein”.^[5] MDA2 compares scul (“skein”).^[6]

Ciorănescu calls the origin uncertain and thinks it may be Modern Greek σκόλη (skóli, “feast day”), comparing σκουλαρίκι (skoularíki, “earring”).^[7] He finds neither of two older proposals convincing: Diculescu's link with Ancient Greek σκῦλον (skûlon, “spoils”), and Scriban's link with the same word.^[7][8] Scriban himself derived it from a Modern Greek word for a distaff.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1481, in the Slavonic–Romanian documents, and gives the old sense “a small object of great value, especially of precious metal; a jewel”.^[4] Constantinescu's dictionary of personal names lists the names Scule, Sculeș and Sculotă under the noun;^[10] Sculotă is recorded in 1431.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The oldest sense, “precious object, jewel”, often in the plural for jewellery and valuables, is now dated.^[4][2] Gaster's chrestomathy glosses it “jewels”, and the Lexicon of Buda of 1825 still gives both “tool” and “precious thing”.^[11][12] MDA2 adds an old plural sense: the precious vestments and objects of church services.^[6]

The sense “tool” is already glossed in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1660.^[13] Tiktin records scule de pescărie “fishing gear” and sculele tâmplarului “the carpenter's tools”.^[4] In technical language it is a piece that shapes a solid material, and also the part of a machine tool that cuts.^[2] Figuratively it is a person or means someone uses for an end, and familiarly an odd character: Scriban gives ce mai sculă! as an ironic remark.^[2][9][5] MDA2 also records a regional euphemism for the male member, which slang keeps, along with “burglar's tool” and “knife”.^[6][14]

Timeline

• c. 1481 – the first record, in the Slavonic–Romanian documents.^[4]
• 1660 – sculă glosses Slavonic orudie “instrument” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[13]
• 1825 – the Lexicon of Buda gives the senses “tool” and “precious thing”.^[12]
• 1828 – MDA2's first dated record, in Seligher's booklet on the care of the teeth.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tool or implement, especially one that shapes, cuts or finishes a solid material; also the cutting part of such a tool or of a machine tool.^[2][6]
2. In the plural, the whole set of tools someone uses in a trade.^[6][4]
3. (figurative) A person, act or means that someone uses to reach an aim; an instrument.^[2][6]
4. (colloquial, ironic) A character, a fine specimen of a person.^[3][9]
5. (dated) In the plural, valuables, jewels.^[2][4]
6. (vulgar) The penis.^[6][14][1]

Word family

• sculer

Related words

• scula
• scul

Usage notes

Do not confuse the noun with sculă, the third person singular simple perfect of the verb scula “to get up”, which has its stress on the last syllable.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 995
3. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. sculă
4. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. sculă
5. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 578
6. ^ 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, 830
7. ^ 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. sculă
8. ^ Diculescu, Constantin (1924–1926), "Elementele vechi grecești din limba română", Dacoromania IV, pp. 394–516, p. 469
9. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1179
10. ^ a b Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. sculă
11. ^ Gaster, M. (1891), Chrestomatie română: texte tipărite și manuscrise (sec. XVI–XIX), dialectale și populare, cu o introducere, gramatică și un glosar româno-francez, vol. II, Leipzig: Brockhaus / București: Socec, p. s.v. sculă
12. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 624
13. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. sculă
14. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. sculă