sufoca

Forms

sufoca (third-person singular present sufocă, past participle sufocat) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French suffoquer.^[2][3][4][1] DEX, DN and MDN also give it as borrowed from Latin suffocō (“to choke, strangle”).^[2][5][6] French borrowed the verb from Latin in the 13th century; the Latin verb is formed with sub- on faucēs (“throat”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Antonescu's dictionary of 1862;^[3][8] Pontbriant's dictionary of the same year glosses it “to suffocate, stifle, lose one's breath”.^[3][8] An early literary use is in Vlahuță's novel Dan: „bătăile inimei îl sufocau” “the beating of his heart was choking him”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From making someone unable to breathe, the verb came to mean killing or dying for lack of air, and stifling the growth of plants.^[3] Figuratively it is used of an atmosphere, an emotion or anger that overwhelms someone, and of hindering actions and processes.^[3][4] It is also intransitive, as in sufocând de indignare “choking with indignation”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1862 – in Antonescu's dictionary, the first record.^[3]
• 1862 – Pontbriant: “to suffocate, stifle”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, reflexive) To suffocate or choke; to make someone unable to breathe, or to be unable to breathe.^[2][3][1]
2. To kill or to die for lack of air.^[3]
3. (of plants) To stifle in growth.^[3]
4. (figurative) To hinder or stop the course of an action, process or feeling.^[3]
5. (figurative) To overwhelm, of an emotion or an atmosphere: Furia aproape îl sufoca.^[2][4]

Related words

• înăbuși
• French suffoquer

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1070
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1048
4. ^ 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. sufoca
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. sufoca
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sufoca
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 714