Etymology and origin of the Romanian word spin
spin1 thorn
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- 1352 a document cited by Tiktin
- Inherited from
- Latin spinus
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European *spey-
Etymology tree of spin1
Forms
spin m (plural spini)[1]
Etymology
The word for the thorn is inherited from Latin spīnus (“blackthorn”).[2][3][4][1][5] The Latin noun comes from spīna (“thorn”), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”).[1]
It survives in Aromanian schin and Megleno-Romanian spin, with a Megleno-Romanian variant șchin.[2][6][7] Its Romance cognates include Italian spino, Occitan espin, Spanish espino and Portuguese espinho.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin dates the first record to 1352.[8] In Romanian texts it appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (c. 1500–1520), in Psalm 31:4.[4][9] Coresi's psalter of 1570 has the same verse: „Turnai-mă spre straste când înghimpă-mă spin” “I turned to suffering when a thorn pricked me”.[8][10]
Semantic evolution
From the thorn the word passed to the plants that bear thorns: thistles (Carduus), the blackthorn and species of Eryngium and Xanthium.[2][3] Panțu records spin for the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) in Transylvania, the sense of the Latin etymon.[11][3] Technical senses are the barb of a fishhook and a pin or peg.[3] The crown of thorns of the Gospels, cunună de spini, is in the Bible of 1688 and became a phrase for unending suffering.[8][12]
Timeline
- 1352 – the first record.[8]
- c. 1500-1520 – in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.[4][9]
- 1570 – spin and spinii in Coresi's psalter.[10][13]
- 1688 – cunună de spini “crown of thorns” in the Bucharest Bible.[8]
Meanings
Noun
- A thorn, a hard, sharp outgrowth on the stem, branches, leaves or fruit of a plant; ghimpe.[3][4]
- A name for several thorny plants, especially the thistle Carduus acanthoides.[3][2]
- The barb at the point of a fishhook.[3]
- A pin or peg; știft.[3]
Word family
- spinet
- spiniș
- spinos
- înspina
- spinuță
- schinel
spin2 spin (physics)
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1957 Lexiconul tehnic român
- Borrowed from
- English spin
- Ultimate origin
- Old English spinnan
Forms
spin m (plural spini, also spinuri)[3][9]
Etymology
The word for the physical quantity is borrowed from English spin and French spin, as DEX, DN and MDN give it.[3][14][15] The DLR and MDA2 name only English.[9][4] DN connects it with spinning moment, from the English verb meaning “to rotate”.[14]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2 dates the first record to the Lexiconul tehnic român of 1957, for the intrinsic angular momentum of a particle.[4]
Semantic evolution
The term has stayed technical;[4][9] spin nuclear names the angular momentum of the atomic nucleus.[4][9] The press of the late 1970s explains it when introducing bosons and fermions.[16]
Timeline
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- Latin spīna
Usage notes
A sta pe spini (or ca pe spini) means “to be on tenterhooks”, and a fi ca un spin în ochii cuiva “to be a thorn in someone's side”.[3] The proverb Nu e trandafir fără spini “there is no rose without thorns” is old.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e 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. spin
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1040
- ^ 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, 954
- ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8155
- ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 958
- ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 271
- ^ 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. spin
- ^ 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. spin
- ^ 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 31:4
- ^ 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. 287
- ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. spin
- ^ 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 57:9
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. spin
- ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. spin
- ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. spin
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Spin.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/spin. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.
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