vulcan

Forms

vulcan m (plural vulcani)^[1] The oldest record has the form volcan: „la începătura acestui veac s-au făcut din volcani” “at the beginning of this century they were made by volcanoes”.^[2][3] Old texts also have neuter plurals in -e and -uri: „fenomenile acele măreţe a vulcanelor” “those grand phenomena of the volcanoes” (1829).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian vulcano, also borrowed from German Vulkan, according to DEX, DLR and MDN, and MDA2 adds French volcan.^[4][2][5][3] Tiktin and Wiktionary name the Italian, Scriban the French, and Marcu & Maneca derive it from Latin, comparing the Italian and French words.^[6][1][7][8] DLR takes the old variant ⟨volcan⟩ from the French.^[2]

All these words go back to Latin Vulcānus, the Roman god of fire.^[9][10][11] The Italian noun is first recorded in 1555, in a translation of Pedro de Cieza's chronicle of Peru, and Nocentini traces the common noun to Spanish vulcán, used for the volcanoes of Central America, and to the island name Vulcano.^[11][12] The German word is a new formation of the 17th century.^[9] Wiktionary compares Aromanian vulcan.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is A toată lume călătorie, a translation of Delaporte's work in a manuscript of 1785, where islands are said to have been thrown up by volcanoes, with the form volcani.^[3][2] Amfilohie Hotiniul's Gramatica fizicii explains volcanoes as vents of the earth that throw out fire, „ca muntele Etna și Vezuvio”.^[2] Tiktin dates the word to about 1790.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Early 19th-century writers glossed the new word: in 1829 it is explained as „munți care aruncă foc” “mountains that throw fire”, and Negulici's dictionary of 1848 defines it as a mountain that pours out fire.^[2][13]

Figurative uses came with it: a heart or an imagination burning like a volcano, and a hidden but threatening danger.^[14][15][16] The expression a sta (ca) pe un vulcan means to live under the threat of a danger that may break out at any moment.^[4][3] Geology added the term vulcan noroios “mud volcano”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1785 – the first record, volcani, in a translated book of travels.^[3][2]
• c. 1790 – Tiktin's first record.^[6]
• 1829 – neuter plural vulcane and the gloss “mountains that throw fire”.^[2]
• 1848 – Negulici lists it among the neologisms.^[13]
• 1870 – Costinescu records the figurative senses.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A volcano: a conical mountain built up by the eruption of lavă and other magmatic material, with a wide opening at its top.^[4][3] vulcan activ “active volcano”, vulcan stins “extinct volcano”.^[3]
2. vulcan noroios: a mud volcano, a cone formed where gases rising from underground carry water and mud to the surface.^[4][3]
3. (figurative) A place from which a dangerous action may start; a threatening state of affairs; an imminent danger.^[4][3]
4. (figurative) A person of fiery temperament.^[5]

Related words

• Aromanian vulcan
• Latin Vulcānus

Usage notes

MDA2 and DLR also list vulcan as a variant of vâlcan and of vultan.^[3][2] With a capital, Vulcan is the Roman god and the name of several places, among them the town in Hunedoara county, recorded as Wolkan in 1462.^[1][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vulcan
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1520
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1209
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. vulcan
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. vulcan
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1423
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. vulcan
9. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 964
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. vulcan
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 703
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 710
16. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 711
17. ^ Suciu, Coriolan (1966–1968), Dicționar istoric al localităților din Transilvania, I–II, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. II