străpunge

Forms

străpunge (third-person singular present străpunge, past participle străpuns, third-person subjunctive străpungă) 3rd conjugation^[1]

Etymology

DEX, Șăineanu and Wiktionary take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *extrāpungō, with the prefix extrā- put in place of the one in *trānspungō, from Latin pungō (“to prick”).^[2][3][1] Papahagi derives Aromanian strãpungu from the same form.^[4] Tiktin gives two possibilities: the Latin verb, which he cites without an asterisk and compares with Italian trapungere, or a new Romanian formation on împunge.^[5]

MDA2 and the DLR instead take it as formed from Romanian stră- + punge.^[6][7] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of that verb, with the prefix stră-, but notes that the compound may be Romance, since Friulian straponzi has the same form.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1640, in a Ceaslov (book of hours).^[5] MDA2's first record is later, in Budai-Deleanu's Romanian–German lexicon.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The verb means to drive a pointed object right through something, and so to kill or wound with a weapon: a folk ballad in Alecsandri's collection has „Cu cinci lănci îl străpungea” “with five lances they pierced him”.^[5][9][2] In the 19th century Asachi describes a Moscow coin with a horseman piercing a dragon with his lance.^[7] It also means to drill or perforate.^[6][2]

Figurative senses followed: sounds, light or a look pierce through a space, as when Sadoveanu writes of someone piercing him with his eyes.^[6][9] Military language has a străpunge frontul “to break through the front”, and mining uses the verb for joining two underground workings.^[2]

Timeline

• 1640 – first record, in a Ceaslov.^[5]
• 1818 – in Budai-Deleanu's lexicon.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pierce with a pointed object so that it comes out on the other side; by extension, to kill or wound with a sharp weapon: Sulița i-a străpuns scutul.^[2][6][1]
2. To perforate, to make a hole right through.^[2][6]
3. (figurative) To pass through, to penetrate: Lumina farului străpungea ceața. A străpunge frontul: to break through the enemy's line of defence.^[2][6]
4. (mining) To join two underground workings.^[2]

Word family

• străpungător

Related words

• împunge
• punge
• Aromanian strãpungu

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1057
3. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 620
4. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 980
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. străpunge
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1004
7. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. străpunge
8. ^ 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. împunge
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 255