zănatic

Forms

zănatic m or n (feminine singular zănatică, masculine plural zănatici, feminine/neuter plural zănatice)^[1]

Etymology

Two explanations compete.^[2] According to MDA2 and Tiktin it is inherited from Late Latin dianāticus (“frenzied worshipper of Diana”), a word derived from the name of the goddess Diāna, and the DLRM and DEX compare that word.^[3][4][5][6] Ciorănescu names Hasdeu, Philippide, Pușcariu and Tagliavini for this view and notes that the Latin word appears in the 5th century.^[2] Ungureanu points out that it is recorded once, in Maximus of Turin, and compares Old French and Swiss French words for a witch.^[7]

Ciorănescu, after Philippide, prefers a derivative from Romanian zână + -atic, formed like noptatic, and Scriban gives the same explanation, reading it as “taken by the fairies”.^[2][8][1] zână itself is inherited from the goddess's name.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1698, in a Menaion.^[4] MDA2 has its first record only from 1848, in I. Văcărescu's poems.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Anton Pann rhymes it with lunatic: „E nebună, lunatică, Umblă ca o zănatică” “she is mad, moonstruck, she goes about like one possessed”.^[4][10] Today it means scatterbrained or crazy and is colloquial.^[6][4] The variant zănatec is western.^[8][6]

Timeline

• 1698 – the first record, in a Menaion.^[4]
• 1848 – in I. Văcărescu's collected poems.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. scatterbrained, harebrained, acting as if out of one's mind; zăpăcit, smintit.^[6][3][1]
2. crazy, cracked; also as a noun, a madman or madwoman.^[11][10][1]

Related words

• zână
• Latin Diāna

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. zână
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1541
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. zănatic
5. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 950
6. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1218
7. ^ Ungureanu, Dan (2024), Istoria limbii române, Chișinău: Cartier, p. 370
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1431
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2624
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 726
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. zănatic