sprânceană

Forms

sprânceană f (plural sprâncene)^[1] Variants are sprinceană and, regionally, sprâncea, sprânceauă, sprincea and sprunceană; a regional plural is sprânceni.^[2][1] Dosoftei used sufruncele and glossed it in the margin with sprâncene.^[3][4]

Etymology

According to DEX, MDA2 and the Academy dictionary it is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *supercina, a blend of Latin supercilia (“eyebrows”) and gena (“cheek, eyelid”), the source of geană.^[5][2][6] Wiktionary gives the reconstructed form as *supercenna.^[1]

Pușcariu, Tiktin, the REW and Candrea took it from the Latin plural itself.^[7][8] Pușcariu noted that the plural would regularly have given a form ending in ⟨-ceale⟩, and explained the ending ⟨-eană⟩ by the analogy of the word for “eyelash”; he also saw the influence of a Latin derivative of frōns (“forehead”), continued by Dosoftei's sufruncea.^[4] Ciorănescu found the Latin plural hard to fit to the sounds and preferred the form with ⟨-cenna⟩, standing for an earlier *supergenna, comparing Spanish sobreceño; he rejected the link with that word.^[7]

The ⟨n⟩ before ⟨c⟩ is a nasal infix, like the one in Portuguese sobrancelha and Romansh survantscheglia.^[7][1] Ciorănescu gives the form south of the Danube as Aromanian suprăceană.^[7] He regards the ⟨î⟩ of the standard form as recent and writes the word sprinceană.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578), in Psalm 131:4, in a verse about sleep, beside the eyes.^[2][6][3] Candrea's glossary of that psalter records the forms sprăncânelor and sprânceanelor.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is the eyebrow; in the old language and in some regions the word also meant the eyelid or the eyelash.^[2][6] From the shape of the brow it came to mean a ridge or crest of a hill and an edge or strip: the Bible of 1688 has sprânceana muntelui for the brow of the hill in Luke 4:29.^[3][5] Regional senses include a stripe woven into cloth in Maramureș.^[10]

Several phrases rest on the brows: a ridica din sprâncene “to raise one's eyebrows”, a se uita pe sub sprâncene “to look on the sly”, and a alege pe sprânceană “to pick the very best”.^[5][3]

Timeline

• c. 1573-1578 – sprâncene in the Psaltirea Scheiană, the first record.^[2][6]
• 1688 – sprânceana muntelui “the brow of the hill” in the Bucharest Bible.^[3]
• 1825 – in the Lexicon de la Buda, glossed with Latin supercilium.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. eyebrow: the arched line of short, thick hairs above the eye socket.^[5][1]
2. (figurative) The ridge or crest of a hill.^[5][12]
3. (figurative) An edge or border; a strip, for example of light.^[5]
4. (regional) An eyelid.^[2]

Word family

• sprâncenat

Related words

• geană
• Latin supercilium

Usage notes

A alege pe sprânceană “to pick out the best” and a fi cu ochi și cu sprâncene “to be glaringly obvious” are fixed expressions.^[5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 962
3. ^ 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. sprânceánă
4. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 149
5. ^ 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. 1043
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sprânceánă
7. ^ 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. sprinceană
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8459
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A. (1916), Psaltirea Scheiană comparată cu celelalte psaltiri din sec. XVI și XVII traduse din slavonește, vol. II: Glosarele, București: Socec, p. 385
10. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. sprânceánă
11. ^ 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. 663
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. sprânceană