trunchi

Forms

trunchi n (plural trunchiuri)^[1] Ciorănescu writes the older form trunchiu, masculine with the plural trunchi; the regional plurals trunche and trunți also occur.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin trunculus (“small trunk, stump”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary reconstructs the syncopated form *trunclus.^[1] The Latin word is a diminutive of truncus (“trunk, torso”).^[7][1] De Vaan takes the noun from an older adjective “maimed, stripped of branches”, and finds no convincing link with Gothic or Lithuanian words for pushing.^[8]

Scriban compares the development of unchi and ochi.^[7] Its closest Romance cognate is Spanish troncho.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1547, in a document.^[5] MDA2's first record is in Dosoftei's lives of the saints (1682–1686).^[3] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses trúnchiu with Latin truncus and caudex.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word names the main stem of a tree, then a felled trunk or log, and the thick block on which wood is split or meat is cut.^[4][2] Applied to the body it means the torso without head and limbs.^[4] Scriban records figurative senses: a sturdy, heavy child, and the direct line of a family from which the side branches spring.^[7][2] Modern science uses it in trunchi cerebral “brainstem” and trunchi de con “frustum of a cone”.^[4]

The verb trunchia “to truncate” is a neologism formed after French tronquer.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1547 – the first record.^[5]
• 1682-1686 – Dosoftei's lives of the saints.^[3]
• 1801 – trúnchiu in Klein's dictionary.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The trunk of a tree, between the roots and the main branches; a felled trunk, a log; a thick block on which wood is split or meat is cut.^[4][10]
2. The torso, the human body without head and limbs.^[4]
3. (anatomy) In trunchi cerebral: the brainstem.^[4]
4. (geometry) In trunchi de con (de piramidă): a frustum of a cone (of a pyramid).^[4]

Related words

• trunchia
• Latin truncus

Usage notes

The DLR has a rare obsolete adjective trunchi “lacking”, from Latin truncus, in Șincai: „diaconul Ioan, cel trunchiu de o mînă” “the deacon John, who lacked one hand”.^[11][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. trunchiu
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1291
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1151
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. trunchi
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8955
7. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1352
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 460
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. trunchi
11. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. trunchi