zvânta

Forms

zvânta (third-person singular present zvântă, past participle zvântat) 1st conjugation^[1] An old present zvântez and a variant zvinta occur: a text of 1749 advises putting grapes „să se zvinteze la soare” “to dry in the sun”.^[2][3]

Etymology

DEX, the DLR, MDA2 and NODEX take it inherited from Vulgar Latin *exventāre (“to air out”).^{[4][2][3][5][1]} The verb is reconstructed from Romance: the REW sets it beside Italian sventare, French éventer and Catalan esventar.^[6] It is formed on ventus (“wind”), the source of vânt.^[1][7] Ciorănescu treats it in the article on that noun and allows two views: a Romanian formation on that word, or perhaps the Latin verb, as Pușcariu proposed in 1945.^[7] A related verb survives south of the Danube: Aromanian zvintu.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582, in Exodus 16:14, where the sense is “to dry”.^[8] MDA2 dates the word only from the Bucharest Bible of 1688, which has the participle zvântat in Numbers 11:32.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is drying in the air or the sun, of the ground, linen or fruit, and by extension wiping tears or sweat from the face.^[2][4] From the idea of drying out came “to drain to the last drop”: a folk song says „Trei buți de vin o zvântat” “he drained three barrels of wine”.^[8] Further figurative senses followed: to exhaust money or goods, to destroy, and a zvânta în bătaie “to beat soundly”.^[10][3] In clauses such as bea de zvântă “he drinks like a fish” it only stresses how much is done.^[4][8]

Timeline

• 1581–1582 – the Palia de la Orăștie, Exodus 16:14, the first record.^[8]
• 1688 – the participle zvântat in the Bucharest Bible.^[9][3]
• 1749 – să se zvinteze “to dry” in a recipe.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To dry a little, to lose moisture in the air or the sun; to wipe dry tears, eyes or cheeks: Pământul s-a zvântat după ploaie.^[4][3]
2. (figurative) To destroy, to ruin;^[4][10] a zvânta în bătaie “to beat soundly”.^[4][10]
3. To drain, to exhaust money or resources.^[4][5]
4. In consecutive clauses after another verb, it stresses the intensity of the action.^[4]

Related words

• vânt
• zvântura
• zvânturat
• zvânturatec
• Aromanian zvintu

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. zvânta
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1588
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1229
5. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. zvânta
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ 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. vînt
8. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. zvânta
9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. NUMERILE 11:32
10. ^ a b c Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 960