sumete

Forms

sumete (present sumet, past participle sumes, third-person subjunctive sumeată), 3rd conjugation^[1][2] MDA2 records the regional variant sumeta and the rare sumeti.^[2] A regional sumeca (present sumec) is, according to Tiktin, a blend of this verb and sufleca.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin summittere (“to let down, lower; to put under”), also written submittō.^[4][2][5][1] The Latin verb is formed from sub- and mittō (“to send, let go”).^[1][6] Romanian kept a sense of its own: Tiktin notes that “to roll up, tuck up” is found neither in Latin nor elsewhere in Romance.^[3] The etymology goes back to Cipariu and Pușcariu.^[4]

Its Romance cognates are Italian sommettere, Occitan sometre, Spanish someter and Portuguese someter, which keep the senses “to put under, subject”.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Dimitrie Cantemir's Hronicul of 1722, in a figurative use: to free the empire from shame, he “tucked up his skirts” (și-a sumes poalele), that is, got ready for action.^[3] MDA2 gives a later first record, Iordache Golescu's dictionary manuscript of about 1832.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is to fold or roll up the end of a garment, mostly sleeves or skirts, so that it stays higher, does not get wet or dirty, or leaves the arms and legs free.^[2][8] Folk songs and 19th-century prose use it of girls who tuck up their skirts and of men who roll up their sleeves before a fight or a job.^[3][8] From garments it spread to other things that hang down: to lift, pull up or fasten higher, and rarely to twist a moustache or to lift hay with a fork.^[2]

Regional reflexive uses are figurative: in Oltenia a se sumete can mean to rush after someone, and elsewhere to dare.^[2] Dictionaries of the 19th century gloss it with French retrousser and relever.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 1722 – in Cantemir's Hronicul, figuratively, the first record.^[3]
• c. 1832 – in Iordache Golescu's dictionary manuscript.^[2][8]
• 1862 – Pontbriant's dictionary glosses it “to lift the edge”.^[10]
• 1929 – Șăineanu defines it as folding something that is too long, sleeves or skirts.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To roll up or tuck up one's sleeves or the hem of a garment: Și-a sumes mânecile și s-a apucat de treabă.^[5][2][1]
2. (transitive) To lift, pull up or fasten higher something that hangs or has slipped down.^[5][2]
3. (transitive, rare) To twist, especially a moustache; also to lift hay or straw with a fork.^[2]
4. (reflexive, regional, figurative) To dare; in Oltenia, to rush after someone.^[2]

Related words

• sufleca
• Latin summittō

Usage notes

Its synonym in the standard language is sufleca, and DEX and DLRLC define one by the other.^[5][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1057
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. sumete
4. ^ a b c 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. sumete
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1073
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8382
8. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sumete
9. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. sumete
10. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 716
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 628
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 305