# Zmęczony



## Slavophile

Can anyone throw any light on the etymology of this word? I've been looking for connections with Russian words, but can't find anything like it in Russian - tired is "ustaliy", completely different.


----------



## jazyk

Is it maybe related to Czech mučit, Slovak mučiť, Russian мучить, to torture, to torment?


----------



## BezierCurve

Yes, that's the one. The *z-* prefix indicates the perfective aspect; it's related to the noun *męka* (a torture, a torment).


----------



## Slavophile

BezierCurve said:


> Yes, that's the one. The *z-* prefix indicates the perfective aspect; it's related to the noun *męka* (a torture, a torment).



Thanks jazyk and BezierCurve - all is now clear. There seems to have been a shift of meaning in the evolution from early Slavonic - tormented (by tiredness) becoming (tormented by) tired(ness) so Zmęczony. Is Russian ustaliy related to any Polish words I wonder?


----------



## jazyk

There is the aspectual pair ustawać (imperf.) ustać (perf.) meaning to cease, to stop running, walking, working because of exhaustion.


----------



## Slavophile

Fascinating! The corresponding russian verbs уставать and устать must have lost the link with stopping and narrowed in meaning to tire/get tired.  Yсталый (literally "who has got tired") will be one of those russian adjectives that looks like a past tense form with an adjective ending - reminding us that russian past tense forms were originally past participles.[I don't know enough polish yet to know if the same applies in polish - but I can see that zmęczony has the form of a past passive participle, presumably from a verb zmęczać or zmękać]


----------



## jazyk

> but I can see that zmęczony has the form of a past passive participle, presumably from a verb zmęczać or zmękać]


Yep, męczyć (imperf.), zmęczyć (perf.)


----------



## kknd

btw. more popular meaning of _ustać_ is 'to manage to stand'.


----------



## LilianaB

kknd said:


> btw. more popular meaning of _ustać_ is 'to manage to stand'.


I think this may be just a homonym. If the Russian word is in any way related to any Polish word, it will be only to the _ustac_ as in _wiatr ustal_, which means to cease to exist, to stop.


----------



## Ben Jamin

kknd said:


> btw. more popular meaning of _ustać_ is 'to manage to stand'.


Why "more popular"? I do not know many situations you could use it except for a ski jumper who managed not to fall while landing. There is an idiom "ledwo stoję/stałem na nogach", but the imperfective is used here.


----------

