stea

Forms

stea f (plural stele)^[1] The old form is steală: Dosoftei writes it, and the Codicele Voronețean has the plural „nece soarele, nece stealele se iviră în multe dzile” “neither sun nor stars appeared for many days”.^[2][3] A colloquial form is steauă.^[4][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin stēlla (“star”), through the old form steală and the colloquial steauă, later shortened.^{[1][5][4][2][6][1]} Tiktin points out that the Romance forms all require the long ⟨ē⟩.^[2] Ciorănescu refers to Densusianu and Schürr for the sound changes.^[5] The Latin word comes from Proto-Italic *stērlā, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”), the source of Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr).^[7][1]

It survives in all four branches: Aromanian steao, Megleno-Romanian steuă and Istro-Romanian stęwu.^[5][8][6] Its Romance cognates include Dalmatian stala, Italian stella, Occitan estela, Catalan estela, French étoile and Spanish estrella.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, where the moon and the stars rule the night.^[4][3] Tiktin's is the Codicele Voronețean (Acts 27:20).^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the star in the sky came the star of one's fate: i-a apus steaua “his star has set”, vai de steaua mea “woe is me”.^[2][10] Star-shaped things took the name: the decorated star carried by carol singers at Christmas, an asterisk, the white blaze on an animal's forehead.^[5][10] Scriban already records the sense “famous actor, especially an actress”.^[11] Folk astronomy names steaua ciobanului “the shepherd's star” for the evening star and stea cu coadă “star with a tail” for a comet.^[4][10] Stea is also a plant name (water chestnut) and, in slang, theft.^[5]

Timeline

• early 16th century – stealele in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[4][3]
• 16th century – stealele in the Codicele Voronețean.^[2][3]
• 1581 – stealele in the Palia of 1581.^[3]
• 1688 – steaua of the Magi in Matthew in the Bucharest Bible.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A star, a celestial body with its own light, and generally any body (except the Moon) that shines in the night sky: stea căzătoare “shooting star”.^[10][1]
2. (figurative) A celebrated actress or performer, a celebrity.^[10][1]
3. Fate, destiny, as linked to one's star: a se naște sub o stea norocoasă “to be born under a lucky star”.^[10][5]
4. An object or drawing shaped like a star, and the decorated star carried by carol singers at Christmas.^[10][5]
5. An asterisk.^[10][5]
6. A white patch of hair on an animal's forehead.^[10][13]
7. A small ring of fat floating on soup or hot milk.^[10]

Word family

• stelar
• stelesc
• stelos
• steluță
• înstela

Related words

• astru
• Aromanian steao
• Latin stēlla

Usage notes

A vedea stele verzi “to see green stars” is said of a violent blow.^[10][2] A fi cu stea în frunte “to have a star on one's forehead” is to think oneself above others.^[10] Stea-de-mare is the starfish.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. stea
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. stea
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 983
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. stea
6. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 150
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 973
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8242
10. ^ 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. 1049
11. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1239
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Matthei 2:2
13. ^ Breban, Vasile (1980), Dicționar al limbii române contemporane de uz curent, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. s.v. stea