veste

Forms

veste f (plural vești)^[1] Old texts write veaste: the Codicele Voronețean has „ieși veaste” “word went out”.^[2] Besides the plural vești, MDA2 records regional vesturi and a regional singular vestă.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic вѣсть (věstĭ, “news, report”).^[4][3][5][1] The Slavonic word continues Proto-Slavic *věstь, formed with *-tь on the root of *věděti (“to know”).^[1][6] Ciorănescu compares poveste and vedenie.^[4] It lives on in Bulgarian вест (vest, “news”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1508, from the Slavonic documents of the principalities.^[8] MDA2's first record is the Codicele Voronețean, with the old spelling veaste.^[3][2] A letter of 1593 asks to be told „ce veaste vă vor aduce ... au de rău, au de bine” “what news they bring you ... whether bad or good”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Beside “news” the word came to mean a rumour and then fame or renown.^[4][5] Chroniclers use it for reports of war: Ureche writes „I-au venit veste ... că Radul Vodă vine cu oști” “word came to him that Prince Radu was coming with armies”.^[8] Fixed phrases arose early: a da de veste “to let someone know”, a lua veste or a prinde de veste “to find out”, and fără de veste “unexpectedly”.^[8][5][3]

The derivatives include the verb vesti “to announce”, vestit “famous” and vestitor “herald”; prevesti “to foretell” goes back to Slavonic прѣдъвѣстити (prědŭvěstiti).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1508 – the first record, according to Tiktin.^[8]
• c. 1563–1583 – veaste in the Codicele Voronețean, MDA2's first record.^[3][2]
• 1593 – „ce veaste vă vor aduce” in a letter.^[2]
• 1688 – the plural vești in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. news, tidings: a fact or event that reaches someone's knowledge.^[5][1]
2. A rumour; by extension, fame, renown: i s-a dus vestea “he became famous”.^[5][4]

Word family

• vesti
• vestit
• vestitor
• prevesti

Related words

• poveste

Usage notes

Set phrases: fără (de) veste “suddenly”, a da de veste “to inform”, a prinde de veste “to find out in time” and ce (mai) veste? “what news?”.^[5] MDA2 and the DLR list a separate veste that is a variant of vestă “waistcoat”.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. veste
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, 1465
4. ^ a b c d e 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. veste
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 304
7. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 137
8. ^ 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. veste
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 2 Împărății 18:20