veșnic

Forms

veșnic m or n (feminine singular veșnică, masculine plural veșnici, feminine/neuter plural veșnice)^[1] The older form vecinic (also veacinic, vecinec) was usual until the 19th century and lives on in popular speech; the Psaltirea Scheiană has „numele D-zeului veacinic” “the name of the eternal God”.^[2][3] Klein's dictionary of 1801 has the modern form, spelled Vefhnic (Latin aeternus).^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic вѣчьнъ (věčĭnŭ, “eternal”), adapted with the Romanian suffix -nic, which gave the older form vecinic.^{[5][6][7][3][1]} The Old Church Slavonic adjective translates Ancient Greek αἰώνιος (aiṓnios).^[8] It continues *věčьnъ, formed on *věkъ (“age, lifetime”).^[1]

Romanian borrowed that noun separately as veac (“age, century”), and the adjective belongs to its family together with vecie (“eternity”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the closing prayer of the Psaltirea Scheiană (about 1573–1578), where God is called veacinic, “eternal”.^[3][2][9]

Semantic evolution

In the old texts the word belongs to religion: God is vecinic, the eternal King or Father, and cele vecinice are the things of the life after death.^[2][3] The Evanghelia învățătoare of 1642 sets „cele vecinice și neputrede” “the eternal and incorruptible things” against the perishable world.^[9] From there it came to be said of nature and of feelings, often in poetry: Eminescu writes of Alecsandri as „vecinic tânăr” “forever young”.^[9][3]

By exaggeration it also means simply long-lasting or constant, and as an adverb “all the time”: Sadoveanu describes a life veșnic la pândă “forever on the lookout”.^[2][7] Somnul cel veșnic “the eternal sleep” is death, and a se muta la cele veșnice “to pass to the eternal things” means to die.^[7][3]

Timeline

• c. 1573–1578 – veacinic in the Psaltirea Scheiană, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1642 – vecinice in the Evanghelia învățătoare.^[9]
• 1688 – vecinic of God in the Bucharest Bible.^[2][10]
• 1801 – the modern form veșnic in Klein's dictionary.^[4]
• 1825 – the Lexicon of Buda has vešnicu and sends the reader to vecinicu.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. eternal, everlasting: existing always, without beginning or end.^[7][3][1]
2. (hyperbolic) Lasting a long time; constant, permanent: Pe vârful muntelui e o zăpadă veșnică.^[7][12]

Adverb

1. All the time, forever, ceaselessly: E veșnic grăbit.^[7][1]

Word family

• veșnicie

Related words

• veac
• vecie
• Old Church Slavonic вѣчьнъ (věčĭnŭ)

Usage notes

Veșnica pomenire “eternal memory” is the last prayer sung for the dead, and ironically a cânta cuiva veșnica pomenire means to predict someone's end.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. veșnic
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1466
4. ^ 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. 474
5. ^ 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. veac
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1403
7. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1195
8. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
9. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. veșnic
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Jer 10:10
11. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 753
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 651