Etymologically
Log in

sãmtu

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 23:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

sãmtu1 holy, saint

Forms

sãmtu (feminine singular sãmtã, masculine plural sãmtsã, feminine plural sãmti or sãmte)[1]

  • As noun and adjective: feminine sãmtã, masculine plural sãmtsã, feminine plural sãmti or sãmte; variants simtu, sãntu, sintu; before names of saints the short forms Stã-, Sãn-, Sãm-, Sãmt-, Sint-, Sã-, Sa-, Sum-, Su-.[2]
  • Other spellings: SÎ'MTU, plural sîmți, in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] SIMTU, with simtu in Mihăileanu and P. Papahagi, sîntu in Dalametra and sântu in Boiagi, and before saints' names sîm, sin, sum and the feminine stă, in Pascu;[4] σᾶμτου (samtu), feminine σᾶμτᾶ, plural σᾶμτσῖ, in Nikolaidis;[5] sâmtu, articled sâmtul, feminine sâmta, in Mihăileanu;[6] Σάμτου in Kavalliotis's word list, which Meyer reads sämtu.[7]

Etymology

The adjective "holy" is inherited from Latin sānctus (“sacred, holy”),[3][4][5][1] the participle of sanciō (“to make sacred”),[8] from Proto-Italic *sanktos.[1] Meyer explains the group mt from a form *samptus.[7]

In Romanian the same word survives only before saints' names, as in Sânpetru, while the adjective is sfânt, from Slavic.[4][9] Megleno-Romanian has somt "saint; icon".[10][11] Further west the Latin word gave Italian santo, French saint, Spanish santo and Portuguese santo.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Σάμτου translates the Greek word for "holy".[7]

Semantic evolution

The word means holy or sacred, and as a noun a saint, a person the church honours for a good life and miracles.[12][3][1] Papahagi quotes méslu sî'mtu al Maĭu "the holy month of May";[3] figuratively it is said of a very good person.[12] In P. Papahagi's tales the plural also means the holy icons,[13] as the Megleno-Romanian word does.[11]

Timeline

  • 1770 – Σάμτου “holy” in Kavalliotis's word list.[7]
  • 1813 – sântu in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[4]
  • 1901 – sâmtu “saint” in Mihăileanu's dictionary, as in sâmtu Ilia “Saint Elijah”.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Holy, sacred.[3][5][1]

Noun

  1. A saint.[12][6][1]
  2. (figurative) A very good person.[12]
  3. (plural) Holy icons.[13]

sãmtu2 to feel

Forms

sãmtu (participle simtsitã)[1]

  • Fourth conjugation: aorist sãmtsãi, imperfect sãmtsam, participle sãmtsãtã, infinitive sãmtsãri or sãmtsãre.[14] Wiktionary lists simtu, sintu and sintescu as alternative forms.[1]
  • Other spellings: SÍMTU and SÎ'MTU (with mi for the reflexive) in Papahagi's dictionary, which gives simtéscu from Dalametra;[15][3] the infinitives sîmțîre, simtire, sîntire, sintire and Boiagi's sentire, and the presents sîmțăscu, simtescu, simtu, sintu, sentu, in Pascu;[4] simtu, simții, simțită, simțire in Mihăileanu.[16]

Etymology

The verb "to feel" is inherited from Latin sentiō (“to perceive, feel”).[15][4][1]

The verb is shared with Romanian simți and Megleno-Romanian sint;[17] Pușcariu notes that Romanian has no trace of the Romance senses "to hear" and "to smell".[17] Further west the Latin verb gave Italian sentire, French sentir, Spanish sentir and Portuguese sentir.[17] De Vaan traces sentiō to Proto-Italic *sentije/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sént-i- (“to notice”),[18] from the root *sent- (“to feel”).[1]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the Latin senses: to perceive with the senses, to feel an emotion for someone, and to become aware of something.[12][4][15] Papahagi quotes a text in which the dogs "did not sense us".[3]

Timeline

  • 1813 – the infinitive sentire in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[4]
  • 1901 – simtu “to feel” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[16]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin sentire.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To feel, perceive with the senses.[12][15][16][1]
  2. To feel (an emotion) for someone.[12][4]
  3. To notice, become aware of.[4][3]
  • Romanian simți

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 894
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 955
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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, 157
  5. ^ a b c Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 463
  6. ^ a b c Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 447
  7. ^ a b c d Meyer, Gustav (1895), Albanesische Studien IV: Das griechisch-südrumänisch-albanesische Wörterverzeichnis des Kavalliotis, Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, phil.-hist. Classe 132, p. 9
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Candrea, I.-A. (1927–1937), Glosar megleno-romîn I–IV, Grai și suflet III: 175–209; IV: 381–413; VI: 163–193; VII: 194–233, p. 201
  11. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 270
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  13. ^ a b Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 697
  14. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 895
  15. ^ a b c d Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 948
  16. ^ a b c Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 466
  17. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 144
  18. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill