strecura

Forms

strecura (third-person singular present strecoară, past participle strecurat, third-person subjunctive strecoare) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *extracōlō, from Latin cōlō (“to strain”).^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu gives this form after Pușcariu, and also *transcōlō after Cipariu and G. Meyer.^[5] Pascu treats the two as the same.^[5][6] Candrea explained the vowel of ⟨stre-⟩ from Latin stercorō (“to manure”);^[1] Ciorănescu rejects this and suggests contact with între and printre, since the verb means “to pass through”.^[5] Wiktionary mentions a less likely origin from s- and trece, influenced by verbs such as spânzura.^[1]

It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian stricor, which Papahagi takes from the same Latin ⟨stercorāre⟩ or from ⟨*extracolare⟩.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1561, in Coresi's Gospels: „Strecurați țânțarii, e cămile înghițiți” “you strain out the gnats and swallow camels” (Matthew 23:24).^[8] MDA2 gives the Anonymus Caransebesiensis of about 1650.^[3] The sense is “to strain a liquid”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From straining a liquid through a cloth or sieve came “to purify, refine”, said also of gold.^[8][5] The reflexive a se strecura was first used of liquids seeping through, then of people and things slipping through a narrow place, and of moving unseen, as people fleeing in a manuscript of 1782.^[8][2] Modern use adds slipping something in unnoticed, saying something in passing, and of time, to slip by.^[2] In Aromanian stricor also means “to drink up”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1561 – strecurați in Coresi's Gospels (Matthew 23:24).^[8]
• c. 1650 – strecura in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[3]
• 1688 – strecurat and strecoară in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]
• 1782 – reflexive strecurându-să “slipping away” in a manuscript.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To strain or filter a liquid through a sieve or cloth, to clear it of solid bits.^[2][1]
2. Reflexive, of liquids: to trickle through a crack or narrow place, to seep.^[2]
3. To make one's way, or make something pass, through a thicket or narrow place.^[2]
4. Reflexive: to slip in or out unnoticed, to sneak; transitive, to slip something somewhere or to say something in passing.^[2][1]
5. Reflexive: to infiltrate a group without being noticed.^[2]
6. Reflexive: to pass one after another; of time, to slip by.^[2]

Word family

• strecurătoare
• strecătoare

Related words

• Aromanian stricor

Usage notes

MDA2 records the variants străcura, strecora and stricura.^[3] Ciorănescu explains strecătoare “strainer”, beside strecurătoare, by confusion with trece and trecătoare.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1059
3. ^ 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, 1012
4. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. strecura
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. strecura
6. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 161
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 981
8. ^ 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. strecura
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Amos 6:6