ulcea

Forms

ulcea f (plural ulcele)^[1] DEX lists ulcică as a variant; both have the plural ulcele.^[2][3] MDA2 records the regional forms olcea and olcică.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ollicella, a diminutive of Latin olla (“pot”), according to DEX, MDA2, the DLR, Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} The REW lists it among the derivatives of the Latin word.^[7] Ciorănescu finds it more probable that the word was formed in Romanian, as a diminutive of oală.^[8] The DLR explains the variants in -ică as the same word with a change of suffix.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR date the first record before 1749, in a recipe printed in Gaster's chrestomathy: „fiiarbe-l într-o ulcea zmănțuită” “boil it in a glazed little pot”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is a small clay pot with a handle, used for drinking or for drawing liquid from a larger vessel; by extension it is its contents.^[4][2] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses it with Latin ollula, and Pontbriant and Barcianu record ulcea de topit “crucible”.^[9][10][11]

In folk belief the pot was used for love spells: a-i pune cuiva ulcica or a-i face cuiva cu ulcica means to bewitch someone.^[2][3][12] Other phrases are a trage la ulcele “to drink hard” and a pune toarta la ulcea “to find the right answer”.^[4] In slang ulcică meant the head.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1749 – a recipe in Gaster's chrestomathy, the first record.^[4][5]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary glosses it with Latin ollula.^[9]
• 1862 – Pontbriant: “small pot”, and ulcea de topit “crucible”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. a small clay pot or jug, usually with a handle.^[2][4][1]
2. the contents of such a pot; the amount it holds.^[4][13]
3. (folk belief) a pot used in spells;^[2][4] a-i pune cuiva ulcica: to bewitch someone.^[2][4]
4. (dated) ulcea de topit: a crucible.^[10][11]

Related words

• oală
• Latin olla

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1167
3. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1373
4. ^ 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, 1360
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ulcea
6. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6059
8. ^ 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. ulcea
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. 463
10. ^ a b c Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 759
11. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 670
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 565
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. ulcea