vâscos

Forms

vâscos m or n (feminine singular vâscoasă, masculine plural vâscoși, feminine/neuter plural vâscoase)^[1]

Etymology

DEX, MDA2, the DLR and Marcu derive it from Latin viscōsus (“sticky”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary, the REW and Gabinschi count it among the words inherited from Latin, and Wiktionary adds that it can be seen as formed from Romanian vâsc + -os.^[1][7][8] Scriban instead took it as formed after French visqueux.^[9] The Latin adjective is formed on viscum (“mistletoe; birdlime”).^[1][10]

Its Romance cognates include Italian viscoso and Spanish viscoso, besides the French word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Romanian translation of Raspail's handbook of health, printed in 1852, of matter that has become thick and sticky over the fire.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes liquids that are thick and sticky, and solids covered with a sticky layer.^[3][2] Writers extended it figuratively to a damp, clinging shade and a muddy road;^[11][5] Marcu records a rare figurative sense “repugnant”.^[11][5] In Moldova it is also used of clayey soil.^[12]

Timeline

• 1852 – in a translated handbook of health, the first record.^[3][4]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. viscous, sticky, gluey.^[2][3][1]
2. Of a solid: coated with a sticky liquid or layer.^[3]
3. (figurative, rare) repugnant.^[5]

Related words

• vâsc
• viscozitate

Usage notes

MDA2 and the DLR list a separate regional vâscos, formed from Romanian vâsc + -os, said of trees on which mistletoe grows or which are overrun by it, recorded in the linguistic atlas from a village near Zalău.^[3][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 1189
3. ^ 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, 1443
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vîscos 1
5. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. vâscos
6. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 690
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9375
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 181
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1416
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 688
12. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 337
13. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vîscos 2