ajutor

Forms

ajutor n (plural ajutoare) “help”; m (plural ajutori, feminine ajutoare) “helper”^[1][2] Old texts write agiutoriu and ajutoriu: the Codicele Voronețean has „dobânditu agiutoriu cela ce e de la Dumnedzeu” “having obtained the help that is from God”.^[3][4] Besides ajutoare, the plural ajutoruri occurs: „va da ajutoruri în bani” “he will give aid in money” (Ispirescu); Tiktin also records ajutoară and the ajutoriuri of the Bible of 1688.^[3][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin adiūtōrium (“help, assistance”).^{[6][4][3][1][7]} DER cites Cipariu, Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the REW and Rosetti for this etymology, and treats the noun “help” and the noun “helper” as one word.^[6] The Latin noun was formed on adiūtor (“helper”) with the suffix -ium.^[1] DEX derives the Romanian word from both Latin nouns,^[2] and Wiktionary derives the masculine noun meaning helper (plural in -i) directly from that Latin noun.^[1]

It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian agiutor and Megleno-Romanian jutor.^[6][1] The REW lists few other descendants of the Latin noun, among them Occitan ajutori and Old French aidoire.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Neacșu's letter of 1521, which warns that men are being taken from every town „să fie în ajutor în corabii” “to serve as help on the ships”.^[5] MDA2 dates the word from the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583).^[4] Coresi's Psalter has „fuiu ca omul fără ajutoriu” “I was like a man without help”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The abstract sense, help given to someone in need, covers every nuance of the verb ajuta, and help is asked for (a cere ajutor) and given (a da ajutor).^[3] In the old law books a da ajutor also meant “to be an accomplice”.^[3][4] Ispirescu uses the plural ajutoruri for aid in money, and the modern state uses the word for benefits paid to employees who cannot work for a time, as in ajutor de șomaj “unemployment benefit”.^[3][4] After 1990 the plural ajutoare came to mean donations of clothes, food and medicine sent to people in need, as in ajutoare umanitare.^[8]

The word also names a person: the Bible of 1688 calls God „ajutoriu și acoperitoriu” “helper and protector”.^[5] In the modern sense of an assistant or deputy (ajutor de primar “deputy mayor”) Scriban saw the model of French adjoint and aide.^[9][6] Used alone, Ajutor! is the cry of someone in danger.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1521 – în ajutor “as help” in Neacșu's letter.^[5]
• c. 1563–1583 – agiutoriu in the Codicele Voronețean, MDA2's first record.^[4][3]
• 1688 – ajutoriu “helper” and the plural ajutoriuri in the Bucharest Bible.^[5]
• 1991 – ajutoare “aid shipments” in the press.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (neuter) help, support: taking part in someone's effort; guidance in difficult circumstances.^[2][4][1]
2. (neuter) Financial aid; a benefit paid to employees who temporarily cannot work.^[2][4]
3. (masculine and feminine) A person who helps another in some work as a subordinate; an assistant.^[2][1]

Interjection

1. Help!: the cry of someone in danger.^[2][1]

Word family

• ajutora
• ajutorie
• ajutorință
• neajutorat

Related words

• ajuta
• Aromanian agiutor
• Latin adiūtōrium

Usage notes

Common phrases are a fi de ajutor “to be of use”, a veni în ajutor “to come to the rescue”, a da o mână de ajutor “to lend a hand” and cu ajutorul “with the help of”.^[2][4] The person sense has the plural ajutori, the thing sense ajutoare.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 24
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. ajutor
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 32
5. ^ 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. ajutór
6. ^ a b c d e 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. ajutor
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 173
8. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. ajutór
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 82