strângere

Forms

strângere f (plural strângeri)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian strânge + -re, as the long infinitive of the verb used as a noun.^[2][3][1] The verb is inherited from Latin stringō (“to draw tight, squeeze”).^[4][1] Pontbriant in 1862 set the Latin infinitive beside the noun, a view of the Latinist dictionaries of the time.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun appears in the 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons, first in the earliest of them (c. 1660–1670), as strîngere.^[6] Klein's dictionary of 1801 renders it with Latin strictio, constrictio and coadunatio, that is both “squeezing” and “gathering”.^[7] MDA2's first record, for the sense of pressing, is from Brezoianu's handbook of agriculture of 1850.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The noun follows the senses of strânge: pressure and tightening on one side, gathering and collecting on the other.^[3][9] Pontbriant listed a gathering of people, a levy of soldiers and the harvest of crops.^[5] The levy survives in DEX as the obsolete sense “recruitment”.^[2]

From the sense of pressing came strângere de mână, a handshake given as a friendly greeting, and strângere în brațe, an embrace.^[10][11] Figuratively, strângere de inimă is a tightening of the heart from fear, grief or regret.^[2][12]

Timeline

• c. 1660–1670 – strîngere in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[6]
• 1801 – Klein: “squeezing; gathering”.^[7]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda: “pressing together” and “collecting”.^[9]
• 1850 – “pressing”, in Brezoianu's handbook of agriculture.^[8]
• 1862 – Pontbriant adds a gathering of people, a levy of soldiers and the harvest.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of squeezing or pressing something or someone; pressure.^[2][8]
2. The act of tightening or fastening, as of a knot.^[10][1]
3. The pressure of tight clothing or footwear on the body, and the discomfort it causes.^[8]
4. The act of gathering or collecting things or people.^[9][5]
5. (obsolete) Recruitment.^[2]

Related words

• strânge
• strânsoare
• strânsură
• Latin stringō

Usage notes

Strângere de mână is a handshake.^[10][11] Cu strângere de inimă means “with a heavy heart, with fear or regret”: A plecat de acasă cu strângere de inimă.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1058
3. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. strîngere
4. ^ 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. strînge
5. ^ a b c d Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 708
6. ^ a b 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. strîngere
7. ^ a b 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. 450
8. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1010
9. ^ a b c 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. 679
10. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 269
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. strângere
12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1253