# mulţumesc [Etimologie]



## Mr Swann

Hello/ Bonjour à tous 

I know that mulţumesc means thank you but I am very curious about its Etymology !!

I can precise that i speak french, I have studied lingua latina for 5 years, i also speak russian a litle so when learning romanian I can easily reconise latin origine or slavic origin ( to love in russian sounds as lioubitjn read as tchitatj) but 
mulţumesc makes me wonder ..
 Can anyone help me ?
(Same in french)
Je sais que mulţumesc veut dire merci mais son origine me laisse perplexe ! Comme je parle un peu le russe je sais reconnaitre les origine slave de certains mots roumains( tchitatj lioubtj) , mais pour mulţumesc je ne sais pas .. Qui peut m'aider ?
Merci de vos réponses ( j'aurais d'autres questions après )


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## farscape

Hello Mr Swan,

_Mulțumesc_ is 1st pers. sg. of _a mulțumi_ (verb) which seems to be derived from the expression _(la) mulți ani!_ (many happy returns of the day! as in happy b-day but is used as well wishing for all happy ocasions, New Year, Christmas, Easter, etc.). Check the forum's resources or dexonline.ro for more details.


Later,

.


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## s.culan

Just a quick note to point out that in the regional form "a mulțămi" > "mulțam" the etymology is still very transparent.


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## LuigiOttawa

s.culan said:


> Just a quick note to point out that in the regional form "a mulțămi" > "mulțam" the etymology is still very transparent.



Hello all, for long I have been wondering what is the origin of the word 'multumesc'.
After seeing this post, it has become clear to me: it is a contraction from Latin 'multus amicus'.
I have mentioned this to several Romanian friends and they have concurred that this is a very reasonable conjecture.
Of course it cannot be proven with certainty.


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## irinet

s.culan said:


> Just a quick note to point out that in the regional form "a mulțămi" > "mulțam" the etymology is still very transparent.



Bonsoir,

Pardon me, what do you mean by 'transparency' here?

Farscape is right again (cf. "Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch", Meyer-Lübke, Heidelberg, 1972; Tiktin H., "Rumänisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch", Buc., 1925) but still does not offer any etymology. 
Etymology is a difficult science to prove and, consequently to grasp. Your question, I'd say, has two-three possible answers. The first was half given by Farscape, and I dare trying to provide the other half because the expression he gave is Neogreek. The time we are placing this traditional saying as related to "mulțumesc" is the historical period when the  rich Aromânii (not Romanians) were very fond of using Neogreek linguistic sets (verbalised or written). The funniest thing to mention here is that they might not know Greek at all! The use of foreign linguistic sets without knowing the source language is common nowadays, too. 
Now, my answer to your question represents the 2nd possible answer.
It's not solely Latin! Before that (the Latin 'multus') there was the 'osca' giving "molto" and "moltam" ("A Dictionary of the Romanian Etymology", M.Vinereanu, Buc., 2009). It is my only opinion that "moltam" seems to be our 'mulțam' which is still used (colloquial usage) now and then. And again, as farscape has said about not being a linguist, I would add that I am not an etymologist either.
Thirdly, is up to you to decide upon the righteousness of the answers to choose.


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## farscape

Making sure we are all on the same page: we are talking about the verb _a mulţumi_ - 1st person singular is _mulţumesc_ - and the Dictionary of the Romanian Academy states that it's coming from _(la) mulţi ani!_ a traditional saying (~many more years) used for Happy New Year, Many Happy Returns of the Day, Cheers and so on. 

I'm not a linguist but I doubt that multus amicus (... nullus amicus ) is the origin of the verb _a mulţumi_.

Best,
.


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## farscape

Aceasta este o discuție veche pe care am închis-o și pe viitor, pentru eventuale clarificări este de  preferat să pornim o discuție nouă sau să întrebăm pe forumurile WR de Etimologie sau Latină. In principiu definițiile/explicațiile date in dicționarele Academiei (vezi aici) ar trebui să fie suficiente pentru acest forum.

This is an old thread now closed and for future refrence, if more details/clarifications are needed, we should either start a new thread or post in the WR fora for Latin or EHL (Etymology and History of Languages). In principle the definitions and explanations provided by the Romanian Academy sources (see here) should be sufficient for this forum. 

farscape - moderator


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