vierșun

Forms

vierșun n^[1] MDA2 also records the variant verșun.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is not settled.^[4][5] It may be borrowed from Hungarian verseny (“contest, competition”): MDA2, the DLR and DEXI compare the Hungarian word, and Tamás credits the derivation to Pușcariu.^[2][6][3][7] Tamás thinks the Hungarian source a better explanation than the others proposed, though he says the question should be examined again; he notes that the Hungarian word is recorded from the middle of the 17th century.^[7] Ciorănescu objects that the Hungarian word fits the Romanian form even less well in its sounds, and suggests instead Latin versiō (“a turning”), in a sense “change” like that of versūra; he warns that the word occurs only in Dosoftei, whose wording is often loose, so even its gloss “wager” may not be exact.^[5] Scriban also took it from the Latin word, read as “aversion”.^[8] Wiktionary calls the origin unknown and gives the Latin derivation as possible.^[1]

Tiktin, who leaves the origin open, connects the word with înverșuna “to grow fierce, obstinate”, which Ciorănescu also lists as its derivative.^[7][5] For that verb Pascu proposed Vulgar Latin *inversiōnō and Cihac Hungarian gerjeszt (“to excite”), which Ciorănescu calls impossible in its sounds and Tamás entirely mistaken.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in Dosoftei's lives of the saints, printed at Iași in 1682–1686.^[2] A beggar there takes a bet, „s-au apucat cu vierșun”, that he will get alms from a miser.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged to old Moldavian writing and is now obsolete.^[2][6] Besides Dosoftei, Tiktin and the DLR quote Nicolae Costin's chronicle, where a German princeling challenges a Pole to a duel „cu vierșun”, a duel on a wager;^[4][6] Tiktin glosses the word there as “contest”.^[4][6] A regional dictionary still lists it with the sense “bet”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1682–1686 – vierșun “wager” in Dosoftei's lives of the saints, the first record.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete, Moldavia) A wager or bet.^[2][6][1]
2. (obsolete) A contest in which something is staked.^[4]

Word family

• înverșuna

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 1476
3. ^ a b Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. vierșun
4. ^ 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. vierșún
5. ^ a b c d 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. vierșun
6. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vierșun
7. ^ a b c d Tamás, Lajos (1966), Etymologisch-historisches Wörterbuch der ungarischen Elemente im Rumänischen, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 852
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1405
9. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. vierșun