DEX: the definition
“A sum of money given, beyond the due payment, for a personal service.”
The etymology, in the dictionary's words: “Din tc. bahșiș” — from Turkish bahșiș.
BEYOND DUE PAYMENT
WORDS FROM THE BAZAAR
What Persian gift do you leave the waiter?
Romanian “bacșiș” — a tip — comes from Turkish bahșiș, borrowed in turn from Persian: bakhshish, gift. Turkish also calls it coffee money. The Persian verb means both to give and to forgive. And the first verified use is at Miron Costin: 50 gold pieces for a Cossack head.
- 2
- senses in one Persian verb: bakhshidan — to give and to forgive (Steingass)
- 4
- Balkan languages with the same word: Romanian, Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian (DER)
- 1676–1677
- the first verified use: the Hotin reward, in Costin's chronicle
How the gift becomes a tip:
BACȘIȘ
بخشش · bakhshish, “gift” — through Turkish bahșiș, “coffee money” — down to bacșiș.
One gift, four languages:
- bacșiș (Romanian)
- bahşiş (Turkish)
- bakhshish (Persian)
- μπαξίσι (Greek)
“Bacșiș” comes into Romanian from Turkish bahșiș (DEX), borrowed from Persian bakhshish — gift (Steingass). The Persian verb bakhshidan means both to give and to forgive. The first verified use is at Miron Costin, with a military sense: the reward of 50 gold pieces for a Cossack head.
What the dictionaries say
Where does the word “bacșiș” come from?
Open the dictionary at bacșiș and you find a gift that travelled: from Persian to Turkish, from Turkish to Romanian. And in Romanian the word holds five meanings together.
MDA2: five senses
Prize. Pay for brave soldiers. Small reward for servants, coachmen, waiters. Bribe. Money for goodwill or protection. And the oldest attestation points to M. COSTIN.
QUOTED AFTER MDA2
The oldest witness: Costin, 1676–1677
…care va aduce cap de Cazac să ee câte 50 galbeni de aur bacșiș.
“Whoever brings a Cossack head shall take 50 gold pieces as bacșiș.”
Modernized-spelling transcription after the 1872 edition.
The Letopisețul Țării Moldovei, written at Iași in 1676–1677 (year 7185 in the title): the payment Sultan Osman promised the Tatars at Hotin (1621) — 50 gold pieces for a Cossack head. The sense is a reward for a deed of arms, not a bribe. The passage is verified in the Kogălniceanu edition, Cronicele României, Bucharest, 1872, vol. I. Tiktin (1903) quotes the same line, with the reference “Mir. Costin Let. I 250”.
The manuscript reserve: another transcription of the same line reads “50 ughi de aurii”, without the word bacșiș — and dates the title to 7183 (1675). The attestation rests on the Kogălniceanu reading — the one the dictionaries rely on.
VERIFIED IN THE EDITION
Steingass: the Persian
“A present; an honorary or pecuniary gratuity” — and the verb: “to give, grant, bestow; to remit; to pardon, forgive, spare”. Gift and forgiveness in a single Persian verb. (F. J. Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, London, 1892, p. 160; classical form بخشيش.)
Scriban: Turkish, borrowed from Persian
“(turc. [d. pers.] bahšiš, pop. bakšiš). Money given to an inferior… as a sign of thanks. See plocon, mită, șpagă…”
DER: the Balkans
From Turkish bahșiș come Greek μπαξίσι, Albanian baksis, Bulgarian baksis too. And from bacșiș: a bacșișui (to bribe) and bacșișar (easy to bribe).
Șăineanu gives it as a gift to subordinates, “especially a gift made on New Year's”.
Two literary witnesses
The dictionaries illustrate the sense with writers. Both quotes stay after the dictionary.
Noi, surugiii, judecăm omul după bacșiș.
“We coachmen judge a man by his tip.”
Vasile Alecsandri, quoted after CADE
QUOTED AFTER CADE
Ți-am da un bacșiș bun să ne spui încotro a apucat.
“I'd give you a good tip to tell us which way he went.”
I.L. Caragiale, quoted after DLRLC
QUOTED AFTER DLRLC
5 Romanian meanings in a single word — and their order in time is unknown.
The road and its branches
One word, two histories
First the word travels: from Persian to Turkish, from Turkish to Romanian. Once inside Romanian, the meaning opens into five branches.
Persia · STEINGASS 1892
بخشش · BAKHSHISH
“A present; an honorary or pecuniary gratuity” — from the verb “to give; to forgive”.
the Turkic world · NİŞANYAN · TDV · TDK
BAHȘIȘ
Attested in medieval Turkic (Nişanyan: before 1250?, 1300); an Ottoman largesse, including for soldiers (TDV); “from Persian” (Redhouse, 1890); today “coffee money” (TDK).
Moldavia, 1676–1677 · COSTIN
BACȘIȘ
The reward of 50 gold pieces for a Cossack head, at Hotin — in Miron Costin's chronicle.
The coin, in your hand
Pick a branch: the same coin, a different social contract.
MDA2 · COSTIN
“Premiu” (MDA2, sense 1) — the reward for an outstanding deed: 50 gold pieces for a Cossack head.
MDA2
“Considerable remuneration for distinguished military service” (MDA2, sense 2).
MDA2 · DEX
“A small reward… for servants, coachmen, waiters… for the quality of a service already paid for” (MDA2, sense 3); “beyond the due payment, for a personal service” (DEX).
MDA2
“A money reward given to officials for an illegal service” (MDA2, sense 4).
MDA2
“A sum of money given to win someone's goodwill or protection” (MDA2, sense 5).
The branches are dictionary senses; their order in time is unknown — so they stand as a fan, not a file.
The edge
When the gift becomes a bribe
Senses 4 and 5 do not flinch: bacșiș can be a bribe or the price of goodwill. Another anatomy starts here.
MDA2, senses 4–5
“A money reward given to officials for an illegal service. See: ciubuc, șpagă.” And: “A sum of money given to win someone's goodwill or protection.”
DLRM: bluntly
“♦ Mită.” — that, right after the clean tip's definition.
DER: the derivatives
“a bacșișui, verb (to tip; to bribe); bacșișar, noun (a person easy to bribe).”
Sibling piece: șpaga
The full anatomy of the bribe — peșcheș, rușfet, ciubuc, parandărăt — lives at its sibling piece spaga.
The coin's game
What did bacșiș mean here?
Five scenes from the sources. Pick the meaning — the dictionary decides.
Scene 1 of 5
Hotin, 1621, in Costin's chronicle: “50 gold pieces” for whoever brings “a Cossack head”.
Scene 2 of 5
For the servants, at New Year: “a gift to subordinates… especially a gift made on New Year's”.
Scene 3 of 5
The coin left for the waiter, on top of the bill.
Scene 4 of 5
Money given to an official for an illegal service.
Scene 5 of 5
Money given “to win someone's goodwill or protection”.
Three common mistakes
Myths
“Bacșiș is Turkish through and through.”
Turkish borrowed it from Persian: Steingass — “a present; a gratuity”; TDK — Farsça baḫşiş; Scriban — turc. [d. pers.].
“Bacșiș means bribe.”
It means bribe too — but also the soldier's prize and the New Year gift. Five meanings live in one word.
“It is a new word.”
It is attested at Miron Costin, in 1676–1677: the Hotin reward.
Natural questions
Questions and answers
Where does the word “bacșiș” come from?
From Turkish bahșiș, borrowed from Persian bakhshish — “gift”.
What did it use to mean?
In Persian: gift, largesse — and the verb means both to give and to forgive. The first verified Romanian use (Costin, 1676–1677) is a soldier's reward.
Does “bacșiș” also mean bribe?
Yes, as a dictionary sense: “a money reward given to officials for an illegal service” (MDA2).
What is the plural of “bacșiș”?
Bacșișuri; MDA2 also admits bacșișe.
Sources
Dictionaries first, then the road and its branches. Every risky claim points at its source.
| C01 | Bacșiș: beyond due payment, for a personal service; from Turkish bahșiș. | DEX '09/'98 | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| C02 | Five senses: prize, soldier's pay, waiter's coin, bribe, goodwill; att. M. Costin. | MDA2 | MDA2 |
| C03 | Turkish [from Persian] bahšiš; money as thanks; see plocon, mită, șpagă. | Scriban | Scriban |
| C04 | The Balkan ones from Turkish; derivatives: a bacșișui (to bribe), bacșișar. | DER | DER |
| C05 | A gift to subordinates, especially at New Year. | Șăineanu | Șăineanu |
| C06 | bahşiş ← Persian baḫşiş; “kahve parası” — today's Turkish. | TDK | TDK |
| C07 | “A present; a gratuity” ← verb “to give; to pardon, forgive” (p. 160). | Steingass | Steingass |
| C08 | Coachmen judge a man by his tip (Alecsandri). | CADE | CADE |
| C09 | A good tip (Caragiale); tips to the farmhand (Pas); bribe. | DLRLC | DLRLC |
| C10 | “Mită” as a sense; from Turkish bahșiș; the military prize. | DLRM, DEXI | DLRM |
| C11 | Medieval Turkic quotes: before 1250? and 1300; from Persian. | Nişanyan | Nişanyan |
| C12 | Imperial largesse, including to soldiers; no etymology. | TDV | TDV |
| C13 | Headword marked “from Persian”; gift, pardon, service money. | Redhouse 1890 | Redhouse |
| C14 | The Hotin reward, the chronicle (1676–1677); Kogălniceanu ed. 1872, I. | Costin | Costin |
| C15 | The same Costin line, quoted with “Mir. Costin Let. I 250”. | Tiktin 1903 | Tiktin |
What stays open
- The year it entered Romanian is still unknown: Costin (1676–1677) is the first verified use, not the borrowing date.
- The chronological order of the five Romanian senses is established by no dated source.
- The medieval Turkic quotes rest on Nişanyan's dictionary; the manuscripts were not inspected.
The Romanian dictionaries are read in dexonline's transcriptions of the printed editions, with the edition and year on every row. Persian comes from Steingass (1892, p. 160); old Turkic from Nişanyan, TDV and Redhouse (1890); today's Turkish from TDK. The Costin passage is verified in the Kogălniceanu edition (1872, vol. I). The literary quotes stay after CADE and DLRLC. Renderings: Marius Comper.
The coin travelled from Persia to your palm — and its road goes on at spaga
Another everyday word with a Persian root: The Romanian word for “plate” comes from a title of China’s emperor.