Etymologically
Log in

undos

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word undos

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1822 Bobb's Romanian–Latin–Hungarian dictionary More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin unda
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin unda
French onde
Italian onda
Romanian undă
Romanian undos
Spanish onda
From the same root
Italian ondeggiare ← unda
Latin undō ← unda
Latin undulātus ← unda

Forms

undos m or n (feminine singular undoasă, masculine plural undoși, feminine/neuter plural undoase)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian undă + -os, from the noun for “wave”.[2][3][4] Wiktionary allows Latin undōsus (“full of waves”) as a possible source, and the REW lists the Romanian word under it, beside Italian ondoso and Occitan ondos.[1] The Latin adjective is formed from unda (“wave”) with -ōsus.[1][5] It also exists south of the Danube: Aromanian undos.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to Bobb's dictionary of 1822;[3][2] DLR also cites Teodor Corbea's dictionary.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the poetic language of the 19th century, mostly of hair: Heliade Rădulescu wrote of the breeze blowing through „părul undos” “wavy hair”, and Bolintineanu of a hand touching „coamele-i undoase” “her wavy locks”.[2][6] Dictionaries of the period gloss it French ondoyant and German wallend, wellenförmig.[7][8] It is now obsolete, replaced by unduios.[4][3]

Timeline

  • 1822 – first recorded, in Bobb's dictionary.[3]
  • 1875 – Antonescu glosses it French ondoyant.[7]
  • 1886 – Barcianu glosses it “undulating, wave-shaped”.[8]
  • 1958 – DLRM marks it obsolete.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (obsolete) wavy, undulating, especially of hair.[3][6][1]
  • undă
  • unduios
  • Latin undōsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. undos
  3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1373
  4. ^ a b c Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 905
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 580
  7. ^ a b Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 324
  8. ^ 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. 672
Cite this entry

“Undos.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/undos. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·