porumb

Romanian

Alternative forms

• порумб (porumb) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Inherited from Latin palumbus (“wood-pigeon, ringdove”), palumbes, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pal-wo (“dark-colored, gray”). The sense of "maize" or "corn" developed probably due to the similarity in appearance of a corn cob to the bird (a similar development occurred in Bulgarian or was calqued: гълъб (gǎlǎb, “dove”) and гълъби (gǎlǎbi, “corn/maize”). Compare also Spanish and Galician carrizo (“reed; also wren; hornet”), which while unrelated, is another example of the semantic change between a word for a plant and animal. The original sense in Romanian was that of a pigeon or dove, but today the derived diminutive term porumbel is mostly used. The arrival of the crop occurred in the 1680s and spread quickly throughout the country, in areas where wheat was previously dominant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /poˈrumb/

Noun

porumb m (plural porumbi)

1. maize, corn

   Synonyms: păpușoi, cucuruz

2. (dated) pigeon, dove

Declension

Declension of porumb

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) porumb	porumbul	(niște) porumbi	porumbii
genitive/dative	(unui) porumb	porumbului	(unor) porumbi	porumbilor
vocative	porumbule		porumbilor

Synonyms

• (pigeon, dove): porumbel, hulub (regional)

Derived terms

• porumbel
• porumbiță

Related terms

• porumbă
• porumbac
• porumbar

See also

• știulete