retsinan.

Etymology: < modern Greek ρετσίνα (medieval Greek ῥετζίνα ), further etymology uncertain and disputed (see below). Compare earlier resinated wine (see resinated adj.) and the foreign-language parallels cited at that entry.Two alternative etymologies are usually given for the modern Greek word: either (1) borrowing < classical Latin rēsīna resin n. (with sound change -s- > -ts- ); or (2) semantic development of ancient Greek ῥητίνη pine resin (see retinite n.), with sound change -t- > -ts-. Although both suggestions are phonologically plausible (since modern Greek words with medial -ts- can derive from etymons with medial -t- or medial -s-), (1) poses the problem that a post-classical sense ‘resinated wine’ is unattested for classical Latin rēsīna, while in (2) the ending would be irregular (the expected form would be *ρητσίνη). These difficulties can be overcome if medieval Greek ῥετζίνα is taken as a derivative (formed with the noun suffix -α) < ῥετζίνι resin (modern Greek ρετσίνι), which in turn is < ancient Greek ῥητίνη, with change of gender plus sound change of t > ts. Although such a development is conceivable and semantically plausible (the name of the natural substance coming first, then the name of the drink flavoured with it), it is not supported by evidence, and although there are pairs of nouns in modern Greek ending in -ι and -α respectively, no pair appears to exist whose members show precisely this semantic relationship; instead, -α normally functions as an augmentative suffix (compare e.g. ντουλάπι ‘cupboard’ vs. ντουλάπα ‘wardrobe’, μπουκάλι ‘bottle’ vs. μπουκάλα ‘large bottle’).