tricou

Forms

tricou n (plural tricouri)^[1] DEX and the DLR give the variant trico; the DLR and MDA2 also list the regional tricău, tricov, tricom, tricon and ștricou.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French tricot (“knitted fabric, knitwear”), as DER, DEX, the DLR and the neologism dictionaries agree.^{[5][2][3][6][7]} Ciorănescu compares the ending of cadou and carou, also from French words in ⟨-ot⟩ and ⟨-eau⟩.^[5] MDA2 adds borrowed from Hungarian trikó as a second source; the DLR derives only the regional forms in ⟨-ău⟩, ⟨-ov⟩, ⟨-om⟩ and ⟨-on⟩ from the Hungarian word, and compares the form in ⟨șt-⟩ with German stricken (“to knit”).^[4][3] The Aromanian word is trico.^[5][8]

The French noun is a deverbal noun from tricoter (“to knit”).^[1][9] That verb is derived from an older triquot (“cudgel”), later spelled ⟨tricot⟩, a word lost in the 19th century, itself from trique (“cudgel”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Șăineanu's dictionary has it as a fabric knitted in loops, French tricot.^[10] MDA2 dates the first record to the 1930 edition of the same dictionary.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “knitted fabric”, is rare now; it is recorded in Șăineanu, the CADE and Scriban.^[3][4] The garment sense, a knitted top worn next to the skin, at first above all by sportsmen, is the modern one.^[3][7] In cycling, the tricou galben is the yellow jersey of the leader of a stage race.^[4] DER records the related verb tricota and the noun tricotaj, borrowed separately from French.^[5]

Timeline

• 1929 – “knitted fabric” in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[10]
• 1955 – a knitted garment for the upper body, in the DLRLC.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A T-shirt or jersey: a knitted cotton or wool garment for the upper body, worn as a shirt or vest, especially by sportsmen.^[2][1]
2. (rare) Knitted fabric, tricot.^[4][3]
3. tricou galben: the yellow jersey of a cycling race.^[4]

Related words

• tricotaj
• Aromanian trico

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 1146
3. ^ 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. tricou
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1278
5. ^ a b c d 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. tricou
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 666
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 497