trăgaci

Forms

trăgaci n (plural trăgace)^[1] As the noun “trigger” it is neuter, with the plural trăgace or trăgaciuri; as “marksman” it is masculine.^[2][3][4] The regional forms tragace and trăgace are feminine.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian trage + -aci, from the verb “to pull, to shoot”.^{[5][2][6][3][1]} Scriban compares sugaci, formed in the same way on suge.^[7] The verb trage continues Latin trahō (“to draw, drag”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record, of about 1832, is the adjective said of draught animals that pull well; a folk song praises horses „Trăgaci ca șoimii, Fugaci ca leii” “pulling like falcons, running like lions”.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

From the draught animal the word passed to the person who shoots well, a marksman, and to the part of a gun that is pulled to fire it.^[3][6] Costinescu (1870) has the sense “trigger”, and Odobescu describes a hunter with his arm ready on the trigger.^[6][3] In slang it also means a revolver.^[9][2]

Regional speech uses it for many things that are pulled: a sled, the handle of a wool comb, a corkscrew, a door latch, a hook on the plough and the tube for drawing wine from a cask.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – the adjective “pulling well”, said of draught animals.^[3]
• 1870 – the sense “trigger” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[6]
• 1926 – regional senses in Lucian Costin's study of the Banat dialect.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. trigger: the movable part of a firearm that is pressed with the forefinger to fire it.^[5][2][1]
2. A marksman; the same as trăgător.^[5][2]
3. (slang) A revolver, a handgun.^[9][2]
4. (regional) The same as tâlv; also a sled, a corkscrew or a door latch.^[2]

Adjective

1. (popular, of animals) Pulling well in harness or in the yoke; draught.^[5][2]

Related words

• trăgător

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1262
3. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. trăgaci
4. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1141
6. ^ 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. trăgaci
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1249
9. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu