toast

Forms

toast n (plural toasturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French toast, with English as a second source in Marcu and Maneca.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} French borrowed it in the 18th century from English toast, which had then just taken the sense “a drink to someone's health”.^[6] The English word first meant “toasted bread” and comes from Old French tostee, from toster (“to grill, roast”).^[6] English etymologists explain the shift by a comparison of the person toasted with the spiced bread dipped in the drink, and Scriban gives the same explanation.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's earliest quotation is from the Albina românească of 1829, where toasturile are the glasses raised to someone's health.^[4] MDA2 has the first record in Stamati's dictionary of 1851.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense in the old quotations is the glass of drink raised in someone's honour, now obsolete.^[4][3] From the middle of the 19th century the word means the wish made at table while raising the glass, and the short speech that goes with it;^[4][8] Alecsandri, Bolintineanu and Caragiale use it.^[4][8] The old pronunciation varied: the DLR and MDA2 record tost and tuast, and the word is said in two syllables, to-ast.^[4][3] MDN adds the sense “slice of toasted bread with butter”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1829 – toasturile “the toasts” in Albina românească, the first record.^[4]
• 1851 – toast in Stamati's dictionary.^[3]
• 1870 – toast “proposal to drink someone's health” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[10]
• 1886 – the plurals toaste and toasturi in Barcianu's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A toast: a wish made at table in honour of a person or event, while raising the glass.^[2][3]
2. A short speech made on such an occasion.^[2][3]
3. (obsolete) A glass of drink raised at a toast.^[3][4]
4. A slice of toasted bread with butter.^[9]

Usage notes

The usual plural is toasturi;^[3][4] toaste is rare.^[3][4] The phrase a ridica un toast means “to propose a toast”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b 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. 1129
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, 1231
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. toast
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. toast
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1327
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 446
9. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. toast
10. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 620
11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 648