vineri

Forms

vineri f (plural vineri)^[1] Old texts of the 16th and 17th centuries write veneri; an old and regional variant is vinere.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Veneris (“of Venus”), the genitive of the goddess's name in diēs Veneris (“day of Venus”).^[4][3][1][5] The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian vinjiri, Megleno-Romanian viniri and Istro-Romanian virer.^[4][6][7] The Romance cognates include Italian venerdì, French vendredi and Spanish viernes.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Codicele Voronețean (about 1563–1583), in a gloss on Acts 27.^[3][2] The sense was the day of the week.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the weekday, the word names Christian feasts: Vinerea Mare (also Vinerea Patimilor, Vinerea Paștilor) is Good Friday, the fast before Easter.^[8][3] Pușcariu compares the phrase with Bulgarian “Great Friday”.^[5] In Transylvania Vinerea Mare is also the feast of Saint Paraskeva on 14 October.^[2][8]

Sfânta Vineri “Holy Friday” is a figure of folk tales, not a saint of the Church.^[5][9] The form vinerea is used as an adverb, “on Fridays”.^[8] Ciorănescu lists derivatives such as vinerel, the name of an ox born on a Friday, and vinerică for a cow.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1563–1583 – first record, in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3][2]
• 1648 – „Era vineri sara” “it was Friday evening” in the New Testament of 1648.^[10]
• 1688 – Vinerea Paștilor “Good Friday” in the Bucharest Bible (John 19:14).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Friday: the fifth day of the week, after Thursday.^[8][1]
2. Vinerea Mare (also Vinerea Patimilor, Vinerea Paștilor): Good Friday, the Friday before Easter.^[8][3]

Adverb

1. On Friday; in the form vinerea, every Friday, on Fridays.^[8][3]

Word family

• vineriță

Related words

• Aromanian vinjiri
• Latin Venus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. vineri
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, 1483
4. ^ 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. vineri
5. ^ a b c d Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 177
6. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 185
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 327
8. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1199
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1407
10. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vineri