soc

Forms

soc m (plural soci)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the elder is inherited from Latin sabūcus (“elder tree”), the old form without the nasal, for sambūcus.^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[7] Pușcariu found the sound development unclear.^[8] Scriban compared the vowel with that of coadă from cauda.^[9]

The word survives in Aromanian as sug and sãuc.^[2][10] Ciorănescu compares Albanian stok, following Skok.^[2] Romance cognates without the nasal include Catalan saüc, Spanish saúco and Portuguese sabugo.^[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the word from 1428, in a Slavo-Romanian document.^[5] In Romanian texts MDA2's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary (c. 1650).^[4] A document of 1752 speaks of „rădăcina socului ce este lângă gard” “the root of the elder that is by the fence”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word names the elder, Sambucus nigra, and also its flowers and wood.^[4][12] Elderflower tea was drunk to bring on sweating, and the bark, berries and root were used as purgatives and in folk dyeing.^[12][13] Qualified names cover other species: soc roșu or soc de munte, the red-berried elder, and soc mic, the dwarf elder.^[4][5] Children made whistles from the hollow branches once the pith was removed.^[9]

An old proverb, Cine s-a fript în foc suflă și-n soc, describes overcautious people.^[4] The word also gave personal and place names, such as Socu, Socea and the village Socii.^[14]

Timeline

• 1428 – a Slavo-Romanian document, the first record.^[5]
• c. 1650 – the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary.^[4]
• c. 1660 – the Slavonic–Romanian lexicons.^[15]
• 1752 – rădăcina socului “the root of the elder” in a document.^[12]
• 1814 – flori de soc “elderflowers” in a calendar.^[12]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda gives flori de socu and țeve de socu “elder pipes”.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. elder: a shrub (Sambucus nigra) with white flowers in clusters, used for a medicinal tea, and shiny black berries.^[3][4][1]
2. The flower or the wood of the elder.^[4][12]
3. soc roșu or soc de munte: the red-berried elder (Sambucus racemosa).^[4][5]

Related words

• Aromanian sug

Usage notes

Not to be confused with șoc “shock”, which differs by its ș.^[3] Regional variants are socru and sog.^[4][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. soc
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1029
4. ^ 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, 922
5. ^ 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. soc
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7561
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 146
9. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1217
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 924
11. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
12. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. soc
13. ^ Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 280
14. ^ Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. soc
15. ^ 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. soc
16. ^ 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. 653