Learn Romanian › dusman
dusman
enemy /duʃˈman/
noun#4942 most common
Also: foe, adversary
Example sentences
El este dușmanul meu.
He is my enemy.
Nu vreau să am dușmani.
I don't want to have enemies.
Vecinul s-a purtat ca un dușman, deși eram prieteni.
The neighbor acted like an enemy, even though we were friends.
Armata a înfrânt dușmanul într-o singură bătălie.
The army defeated the enemy in a single battle.
Cel mai mare dușman al omului este propria lui frică.
Man's greatest enemy is his own fear.
Istoricii dezbat dacă acel rege și-a considerat cu adevărat vecinii drept dușmani ireconciliabili, sau doar rivali temporari.
Historians debate whether that king truly saw his neighbors as irreconcilable enemies, or just temporary rivals.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | dușmanul | dușmanii |
| Genitive | dușmanului | dușmanilor |
| Accusative | dușmanul | dușmanii |
| Vocative | dușmanule | dușmanilor |
Word family
dușmănieenmity, hostility
dușmănoshostile, spiteful
a dușmănito hold hostility toward, to be someone's enemy
dușmancăfemale enemy
Etymology
Dușman entered Romanian through Ottoman Turkish düșman, which was itself borrowed from Persian dušman (دشمن), meaning enemy. The Persian word is a compound built from an element meaning bad or evil and a word for mind or thought, so it originally described someone of evil intent. Romanian picked up the word during centuries of contact with the Ottoman world, and it settled in as a common term for enemy, sitting alongside the older Slavic-derived word vrăjmaș.
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