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mash

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Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word mash

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1894 Weigand's glossary to his Aromanian texts

Forms

mash adverb[1]

  • Other spellings: mãsh in Cunia's dictionary;[2] mashĭ in Bara's dictionary;[3] MAȘI in Papahagi's dictionary, which also records MÎȘI;[4][5] máși in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling.[6]
  • Weigand's glossary records the form mas with the sense "only".[7]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown: Papahagi leaves it without an etymology and marks it with a question mark.[4] He reports two proposals: Nikolaidis derived it from Latin mansum, and an article in the journal ⟨Revista filologică⟩ explained it as ma followed by shi.[4] Pascu lists the word among the Latin elements only with a doubtful cross-reference to shi, which he derives from Latin sīc (“thus, so”).[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record in the sources is Weigand's glossary of 1894, where mas is glossed "only".[7]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries agree on a single sense, "only, just", the equivalent of Romanian numai and doar.[4][6][3] Papahagi also records it in the phrase meaning "not only".[4] Cunia lists among its synonyms sade, sai and veci.[1]

Timeline

  • 1894 – mas “only” in Weigand's glossary.[7]
  • 1901 – máși “only” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[6]
  • 1963 – Papahagi records MAȘI and leaves its origin open.[4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Only, just.[1][4][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 616
  2. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 633
  3. ^ a b Bara, Mariana (2024), Dictsiunarlu ti cathi dzuuã, online at dixionline.net
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 658
  5. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 700
  6. ^ a b c d Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 283
  7. ^ a b c Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 316
  8. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 114
  9. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 166
Cite this entry

“Mash.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/mash. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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