zbea

Forms

zbea (third-person singular present zbea, past participle zbăut) 2nd conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin exbibō (“to drink up”), a compound of ex- and bibō (“to drink”).^[2][3][1] Tiktin and Scriban also allow a formation from Romanian s- + bea.^[4][5][1] It is conjugated like bea, with the participle ⟨zbăut⟩ and the regional ⟨zbeut⟩.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Bucharest Bible of 1688, of the waters of the Flood: „apa, mergând pre pământ, să zbea” “the water, going over the earth, sank away” (Genesis 8:3).^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb means to soak up or absorb, and reflexively, of water, to sink into the ground.^[3][4] It is old and regional: the DLR has regional examples from Frata, near Turda, where bread soaks up milk and water sinks into the earth.^[3] Barițiu used it figuratively of ideas absorbed by the mind.^[3]

Timeline

• 1688 – să zbea in the Bucharest Bible, the first record.^[6][4]
• 1825 – in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (archaic, regional) To soak up, absorb;^[2][3][1] Wiktionary also gives the sense to drink.^[2][3][1]
2. (reflexive) Of water, to seep into the ground.^[3][4]

Related words

• bea

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 1551
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. zbea
4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. zbea
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1433
6. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Facerea 8:3