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slăbiciune

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word slăbiciune

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1563–1583 Codicele Voronețean More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Old Church Slavonic слабъ

Forms

slăbiciune f (uncountable)[1] A variant slăbăciune is used in the east;[2][3][4] Scriban notes it there and DEX lists it.[2][3][4] A regional zlăbiciune is also recorded.[5]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian slăbi + -iciune, the verb with the suffix of abstract nouns.[5][6] DEX and Wiktionary name the suffix as -ciune instead.[3][1] Tiktin derives the noun from the adjective slab, and Scriban from the participle slăbit.[4][2] The verb is formed on the adjective, perhaps with the model of Old Church Slavonic славити (slaviti).[5] The adjective is from Old Church Slavonic слабъ (slabŭ).[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is a text in Gaster's chrestomathy from before 1569–1575.[5] Tiktin cites the word from the Codicele Voronețean, in Acts 24:23.[4] The Coresi psalter of 1589 has it in Psalm 48.[8]

Semantic evolution

The old texts use the word for bodily weakness and for human frailty: the Bucharest Bible of 1688 has it thirteen times.[9] The physical sense of thinness, lack of fat, is recorded in 1785.[6] Figurative senses followed: lack of firmness or will, a moral failing, and in the plural defects and shortcomings.[5][3]

A newer sense is a fondness or soft spot for someone or something, which Șăineanu and Scriban record: a avea slăbiciune pentru copii “to have a weakness for children”.[10][2] Tiktin quotes a writer who calls the lady of his heart his slăbiciune.[4] In Oltenia and Muntenia the plural slăbiciuni means lean meat, as opposed to fat.[5][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1563–1583 – the Codicele Voronețean, Acts 24:23.[4]
  • before 1569–1575 – a text in Gaster's chrestomathy.[5]
  • 1589 – Coresi's psalter, Psalm 48.[8]
  • 1688 – thirteen times in the Bucharest Bible.[9]
  • 1785 – thinness of the body.[6]
  • 1801 – slabiciúne “weakness, infirmity” in Klein's dictionary.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Thinness, lack of fat; by extension lack of physical strength; a passing feeling of faintness.[3][5]
  2. (figurative) Lack of energy or firmness; weakness.[3]
  3. (figurative, mostly plural) A defect, a shortcoming.[3]
  4. (figurative) A liking or soft spot for someone or something; a passion.[3]
  5. (rare) Lack of worth, merit or training.[3]
  6. (regional, plural) Lean meat.[5][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1211
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1025
  4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. slăbiciune
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 907
  6. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. slăbiciune
  7. ^ 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. slab
  8. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 48:13
  9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Facerea 42:4
  10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 596
  11. ^ a b Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. 387
  12. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 445

Related etymologies

  • prea · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • înșela · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • pară · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • somn · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • veste · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • coș · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • lin · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • râs · also from Old Church Slavonic
Cite this entry

“Slăbiciune.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/sl%C4%83biciune. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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