desfăta

Where it comes from

Unknown. Probably from Latin dis- + fētēre (“smell bad, stink”) (compare Spanish heder (“stink, reek; upset”). The prefix dis- would indicate the opposite of the verb it modifies, thus the meaning that emerged for this word in Romanian; cf. also a similar occurrence in dezmierda. Other suggested etymologies, somewhat less likely, include derivations from Latin facies, a Vulgar Latin root *satisfactāre, or *disfatāre, from fatum, or *diseffētāre, from effētus, or a derivative of fatuus (cf. Portuguese/Spanish desenfadar)