Etymology and origin of the Romanian word șerif
șerif1 sharif
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1793 Ienăchiță Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors
- Borrowed from
- Ottoman Turkish شریف
- Ultimate origin
- Arabic شَرِيف
Forms
șerif m (plural șerifi)[1]
Etymology
The word for the Arab prince is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish شریف (şerif),[2][1][3] which is from Arabic شَرِيف (šarīf, “noble, honoured”).[1][4] Tiktin derives it first from Turkish, later also from French chérif,[2] DEX and MDA2 name both,[3][5] and Ciorănescu and the neologism dictionaries give the French word alone.[6][7] The French word comes from the same Arabic word, recorded as ⟨sérif⟩ in 1528 and as ⟨chériph⟩ in Rabelais in 1552.[8] The Arabic adjective belongs to the root š-r-f and is formed on the verb Arabic شَرَفَ (šarafa, “to stand out, rise high”).[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin dates the first record to 1793, in Ienăchiță Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors.[2] The passage is about the sharif of Mecca: „Șeriful de la Mecca viind, i-aduse cheile Mecăi” “the sharif of Mecca came and brought him the keys of Mecca”.[10][5]
Semantic evolution
The word names a Muslim held to descend from Muhammad, and also a Muslim prince or the head of a religious community in some Muslim countries.[10] In the 19th century it appears in Amfilohie, who calls Mecca the seat of a sharif, and in Heliade-Rădulescu.[10] Scriban describes it as a title given to Muhammad's descendants and a prince among the Arabs and the Moors.[4]
Timeline
- 1793 – the sharif of Mecca in Ienăchiță Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors, the first record.[2][10]
- 1939 – Scriban defines it as a title of Muhammad's descendants.[4]
Meanings
Noun
șerif2 sheriff
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1862 Protopopescu and Popescu's dictionary of foreign words
- Borrowed from
- English sheriff
- Ultimate origin
- Old English scīrġerēfa
Forms
șerif m (plural șerifi)[1]
Etymology
The word for the officer of the law is borrowed from English sheriff,[2][1][4] and DEX, MDA2 and Marcu name French shériff beside the English word.[3][5][12] The English word goes back to Old English scīr-gerēfa, a compound of scīr (“shire”) and gerēfa (“reeve, administrator”).[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2 and Tiktin date the first record to 1862, in E. Protopopescu and V. Popescu's portable dictionary of the radical and foreign words of the language, with the sense of an administrative officer in England.[5][2]
Semantic evolution
The early dictionaries describe the English officer: Scriban calls him the unpaid governor of an English county, appointed for a year.[4] The modern dictionaries add the elected officer who keeps order in a district or town of the United States, and Marcu adds the senior judge of a Scottish district.[3][12]
Timeline
- 1862 – in Protopopescu and Popescu's dictionary of foreign words, the first record.[5][2]
- 1939 – Scriban describes the county governor of England.[4]
Meanings
Noun
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. șerif
- ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1087
- ^ a b c d e f Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1278
- ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1096
- ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. șerif
- ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. șerif
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Nişanyan, Sevan, Nişanyan Sözlük: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojisi (online edition)
- ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. șerif
- ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 338
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. șerif
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Șerif.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/%C8%99erif. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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