sinec

Forms

sinec n (uncountable)^[1] The only old record has the form sinrecu, in de sinrecu “and grey hairs” (Psalm 70:18: “even unto old age and grey hairs, O God, forsake me not”); Scriban lists the variant sínrec.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *senicus, a derivative of senex (“old man”).^[2][4][1] The REW cites the Old Romanian form ⟨sinrecu⟩ beside Occitan senec “old” and the Campidanese Sardinian senega in a phrase for “old vineyard”.^[5] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”).^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded once, in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, beside bătrânețe in the sense “old age”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It did not survive: DLR and MDA2 mark it obsolete and rare, and DLR knows it only from that psalm and Scriban's dictionary;^[2][4][3] Scriban lists the forms sínec and sínrec.^[2][4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – sinrecu “old age” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (Psalm 70:18).^[2][4]
• 1885 – a regional sânec “dawn”, a separate word, in Teodorescu's collection of folk poetry.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete, rare) old age.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• Latin senex

Usage notes

A regional homograph sinec (also sânec, sinecă, sânică) means “daybreak”, mostly in adverbial phrases of folk poetry such as la sânec “at dawn”;^[2][4] DLR derives it from the verb sineca “to rise at dawn”, recorded in charms.^[2][4] MDA2 traces that verb to Latin *signicare or *exsomnicare;^[4][7] Ciorănescu, writing it sîneca “to heal”, prefers *sanicare and calls the word rare and unclear.^[4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. sinec
3. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1208
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 897
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7819
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. senex
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. sîneca