șiră

Forms

șiră f (plural șire)^[1] Regional variants are șură for the stack and sâră for the spine; the popular plural is șiri.^[2][3]

Etymology

DEX and MDA2 take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *sira, which MDA2 derives from Modern Greek σειρά (seirá, “row, line”).^[3][2] Ciorănescu treats it as a derivative of șir “row, line”, which he takes for an expressive creation.^[4] Scriban too calls it a variant of that word.^[5] Tiktin derives it from an old Transylvanian Saxon form, schyren, and compares șură “barn”.^[6] For the sense “spine” Diculescu proposed Ancient Greek σειρά (seirá, “cord, rope”).^[4] Wiktionary lists the Vulgar Latin form, a derivative of Latin seriēs (“row, series”), a back-formation from înșira and an expressive creation as possible sources.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to a document of 1742, for the stack of straw or hay, and labels the word as Muntenian.^[6] MDA2 dates it to Golescu's travel notes of 1824–1826.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The șiră is a long stack of straw, hay or sheaves, built like a prism with a ridge on top;^[3][6] Tiktin notes that it is usually raised in the shape of a long house, and that other regions call it gireadă.^[3][6] Costinescu in 1870 used it for a stack of grain still in the straw, and also for one of threshed straw.^[7] The phrase șira spinării “the line of the back” is the spine.^[3][2] Ciorănescu notes that this sense is used in Muntenia and Moldavia.^[4] A regional șira pieptului is the breastbone.^[2]

Timeline

• 1742 – first record, in a document.^[6]
• 1824–1826 – in Golescu's travel notes.^[2]
• 1870 – șiră de grâu, șiră de paie in Costinescu's dictionary.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rick or stack: a large heap of straw or sheaves, built as a prism with a ridge on top; claie, stog.^[3][2][1]
2. șira spinării: the spine, the vertebral column.^[3][8]

Related words

• șir
• înșira
• șură

Usage notes

MDA2 also lists a șiră², a regional variant of șură “barn”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1103
3. ^ 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. 1089
4. ^ a b c 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. șir
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1281
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. șiră 2
7. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 524
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 344