zbate

Forms

zbate (third-person singular present zbate, past participle zbătut, third-person subjunctive zbată), 3rd conjugation^[1] It was also spelled sbate; an old regional variant is zbătea.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *exbattō (“to beat out”), formed from ex- and battō, the Late Latin form of battuō (“to beat”).^[4][2][5][1] Ciorănescu cites this view from Densusianu, Pușcariu and Pascu and compares Italian sbattere and French ébattre, but also allows a Romanian formation from bate with an expressive ⟨s-⟩.^[3] Wiktionary gives the same two explanations for the Italian verb.^[1]

The verb survives south of the Danube as Aromanian zbat, which Papahagi also derives from the Latin compound.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), of grain shaken in a sieve: „batem și zbatem”.^[8] The Academy dictionary also finds the sense “to sift” in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, an old Romanian–Latin glossary.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The old transitive senses were close to bate: to beat or shake, to whisk food, to sift, to strike fire from a flint, and to beat down a price.^[2][5][8] The reflexive a se zbate became the main use: of living beings, to thrash about in pain or to break free; then, figuratively, to suffer and to strive with all one's strength; of the elements and of rushing water, to toss and swirl; of parts of the body, to twitch or throb.^[4][2] Regionally a se zbate means “to haggle”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1705 – zbatem in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică, the first dated record.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive) Of living beings, to struggle or thrash about with sudden, violent movements, from pain or to break free.^[4][1]
2. (reflexive, figurative) To suffer, to be tormented; to strive hard to achieve something.^[4]
3. (reflexive) Of parts of the body, to twitch or throb.^[4]
4. (reflexive) Of water or the elements, to toss and swirl.^[4][2]
5. (reflexive, regional) To haggle.^[4]
6. (transitive, obsolete) To beat down a price by haggling.^[4][9]

Word family

• zbatere
• zbătător
• zbătătură

Related words

• bate
• Aromanian zbat

Usage notes

The verb is used mostly as a reflexive, a se zbate.^[4][1] A se zbate ca peștele pe uscat “to flounder like a fish on dry land” is said of someone fighting to get out of a hopeless situation.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1549
3. ^ 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. sbate
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1219
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. zbáte
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1137
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 1120
8. ^ 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. zbáte
9. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. zbate