urmări

Forms

urmări (third-person singular present urmărește, past participle urmărit), 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian urmă + -ări, from the noun meaning “footprint, track”.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of urmă and notes that its senses are those of French poursuivre.^[5] Tiktin calls it a learned coinage made to render the French verb, and connects it with urmare.^[6]

The base noun is itself of uncertain origin: MDA2 derives it from Vulgar Latin *orma, while Ciorănescu weighs Greek sources and notes its likeness to Italian orma and Albanian gjurmë.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to 1848, in the collected poems of I. Văcărescul, with the sense “to pursue, go after”.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is physical: to go after someone, often in secret, in order to catch or watch them.^[4][3] Like French poursuivre, the verb soon also meant to keep someone under watch and to take legal action against them.^[5][8] In a figurative use a thought, a longing or a misfortune “pursues” a person, that is, haunts them;^[6][9] Tiktin quotes Eminescu and Alecsandri for it.^[6][9]

From watching a moving object the verb came to mean following something with the eyes or the mind: listening closely to a talk or a piece of music, studying a question, and aiming at a goal.^[2][3] MDA2 also records a hunting use of a dog that scents and follows game.^[3]

Timeline

• 1848 – first record, in I. Văcărescul's poems.^[6][3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu's dictionary gives the senses “to chase”, “to obsess”, “to observe closely” and the legal “to prosecute”.^[8]
• 1931 – CADE adds “to persecute, give no rest”, as of criticism that hounds a writer.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go after someone, to pursue or follow them, in order to catch or watch them: Hoții erau urmăriți de poliție.^[2][3][1]
2. To keep someone under surveillance.^[2][3]
3. (law) To take legal action against someone, to prosecute.^[2][3]
4. To follow someone or something with the eyes or the mind; to watch something as it happens: Am urmărit meciul la televizor.^[2][1]
5. (figurative) To haunt or obsess someone.^[2][3]
6. To study a question or someone's work closely; to listen attentively to a talk or a piece of music.^[2][3]
7. To have something as one's aim, to strive for it.^[2][10]

Word family

• urmăritor
• urmărire

Related words

• urmă
• urma
• urmare

Usage notes

The same spelling is also the plural of the noun urmare “consequence”.^[1] A regional plural noun urmări “habits, ways” is recorded in Muntenia.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1176
3. ^ 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, 1392
4. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. urmări
5. ^ a b c 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. urmă
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. urmărí
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1391
8. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 681
9. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. urmări
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. urmări
11. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. 452