viști

Forms

viști (third-person singular present viștește, past participle viștit) 4th conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin viēscō (“to shrivel, wither”), a derivation proposed by Candrea and accepted by Ciorănescu, MDA2, the DLR and Wiktionary.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is an inchoative of vieō and was said of figs left to shrivel in the sun.^[1][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Candrea's dictionary (CADE) of 1926–1931, with the sense “to crack”, of the lips.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare and regional, from Oltenia, and is said only of lips that break out in sores or crack from dryness.^[2][3] Folk verse from Oltenia jokes about boys whose lips have cracked from kissing their aunts: „Li s-a viștit buzele”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1926–1931 – viști “to crack” (of the lips) in Candrea's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive, regional, Oltenia, of the lips) To crack or break out in sores from dryness.^[3][4][1]

Usage notes

A second verb viști “to mate” (of animals), with regional forms such as gisti and ghisti, has a separate source, Latin gestire “to be in heat”, and is recorded from 1715.^{[3][4][3][4][7]}

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. viști
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, 1493
4. ^ 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. viști
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter