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tină

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word tină

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1500–1520 Psaltirea Hurmuzaki More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Old Church Slavonic тина
Ultimate origin
Proto-Slavic *tina

Forms

tină f (uncountable)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic тина (tina, “mud, mire”).[2][3][4][5][1] The Old Church Slavonic word, “mud, mire”, renders Ancient Greek βόρβορος (bórboros) in the Codex Suprasliensis.[6] Ciorănescu compares Czech tina and Russian тина (tina), and Scriban Bulgarian тиня (tinja).[7][8][9] The Slavic word is Proto-Slavic *tina.[1] Vasmer relates it to Old Church Slavonic тимѣниѥ (timěnije, “mud”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (early 16th century).[10] MDA2 dates it to the Cuvente den bătrâni text of about 1550: „Unora le va fi fala ca fărina pământului, alții ca tina spurcată din uliță” “for some their glory shall be like the dust of the earth, for others like the foul mud of the street”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the old texts the word meant the mud of streets and roads: the blind man's eyes are anointed with mud in the Gospel, and the Bible of 1688 has „au făcut tină den scuipat” “he made mud of the spittle”.[5][4] Nicolae Costin used the plural tini for marshes: „primejdioase tini și iezere” “dangerous mires and lakes”.[5][4] The figurative sense, moral filth, is old: Tiktin quotes „tăvălindu-mă în tina poftelor” “wallowing in the mire of desires”.[5] Eminescu called the earth „globul cel de tină” “the globe of clay”.[11]

The word lives on mainly in Transylvania and Moldavia; elsewhere it is literary.[7][3] Regional senses include “earth”, “clay” and “grime”.[3] Phrases: nici cât tina sub o unghie “not even a little” and și-ar mânca tina de sub unghie, said of a miser.[3] In Oltenia there is a derivative tinal.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1500–1520 – tină in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.[10]
  • c. 1550 – tina spurcată din uliță in the Cuvente den bătrâni.[3][4]
  • 1570 – in Coresi's psalter.[12]
  • 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.[13]
  • 1688 – twelve times in the Bucharest Bible.[14]
  • 1776 – shopkeepers are ordered to sweep mud and rubbish off the street twice a week.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (regional) mud, mire: După ploaie, drumul era plin de tină.[2][3]
  2. (regional) Earth, clay.[2][11]
  3. (figurative) Moral filth; a degrading environment.[15][3]

Word family

  • tinos
  • tinoavă
  • întina
  • Old Church Slavonic тина (tina)

Usage notes

Old texts have a plural tini, and regional speech tinuri.[3][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1126
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1220
  4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. tină
  5. ^ 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. tină
  6. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  7. ^ a b 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. tină
  8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1318
  9. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
  10. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 68:18
  11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 427
  12. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 68:2
  13. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. tină
  14. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Job 33:6
  15. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. tină

Related etymologies

  • prăjitură · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • deal · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • amin · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • vrajă · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • lanț · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • disc · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • stâncă · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • pustiu · also from Old Church Slavonic
Cite this entry

“Tină.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/tin%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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