terțiu

Forms

terțiu m or n (feminine singular terție, plural terții)^[1] The oldest records have înterțiu, said of cattle: „21 vaci înterții” “21 heifers of up to three years” (1588).^[2][3] Regional forms are many: târțiu, tărțiu, târțâu, terțău, terțin and others.^[3][4][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tertius (“third”), but how it developed from the Latin word is disputed.^[5][2][1] Ciorănescu derives it from the Latin word, whose regular outcome *terți took the suffix -iu, as in negriu beside negru and suriu beside sur.^[5][1] Pușcariu and the REW start from a Vulgar Latin *tertīvus;^[5][6] Tiktin from the phrase in tertiō (“in the third (year)”), which would make it a learned formation;^[5][6] Giuglea and Candrea from *tertianeus.^[5][6] MDA2 marks the origin unknown and only compares the Latin word.^[3]

The same Latin word was borrowed later as terț “third”.^[1] Ciorănescu compares anțărț “the year before last” and terță.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of 1588 in Hasdeu's Cuvente den bătrâni, in the form înterțiu and of cattle: „21 vaci înterții”.^[2][3][4] Nicolae Costin compared the heart found at a prince's autopsy to that of a two- or three-year-old bullock, „ca de giuncul înterțiu”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective for young cattle, the older use, survives only regionally; in folk speech the word became a noun for a young ram, kept apart from the ewes, whose age varies by region from one to three years.^[2][3][4] In the forms târțău and terțău it also came to mean a youngster, a stripling, sometimes with contempt: Zaharia Stancu has „Cu târțăul ăsta m-am măritat eu”.^[2][3] Diminutives are terțiuaș and terțoieș.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1588 – înterții of heifers in a document, the first record.^[2][3][4]
• 1611 – întărții of rams or lambs in a Câmpulung document.^[2]
• 1793 – bouleni înterții “young bullocks” in a document in the Uricariul.^[2]
• 1890s – terțiu “young ram” in folk tales printed in Șezătoarea.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) A young ram, or a lamb, from one to three years old according to the region.^[3][2][1]
2. (regional, figurative; as târțău, terțău) A youngster, a stripling.^[3][2]

Adjective

1. (dated and regional; of cattle, as înterțiu) From one to three years old.^[3][2]

Related words

• terț
• anțărț
• Latin tertius

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 j k l m n o Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. terțiu
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, 1208
4. ^ 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. terțiu
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. terțiu
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8679