albastru

Forms

albastru m or n (feminine singular albastră, masculine plural albaștri, feminine/neuter plural albastre)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *albaster (“whitish”), formed on albus (“white”) with the suffix -aster.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The same formation gives Italian biancastro and French blanchâtre “whitish” on other words for white.^[6][1][7]

The word survives south of the Danube as Aromanian albastru, which means “blue” in Papahagi and Pascu, and “grey, smoky” in Ciorănescu.^[8][9][2] Obedenaru recorded it in Aromanian as “whitish”, and Papahagi records nalbastru (“light grey”) of sheep.^[7]

The change from “whitish” to “blue” is explained in two ways.^[2][6] Ciorănescu thinks it was first said of a lightly clouded sky, which is whitish;^[2] Aromanian keeps the older sense.^[2] The DA and DELR take it from the phrase vânăt albastru (“light blue”), in which vânăt meant the darker blue, so that the second word was left with the colour.^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR, MDA2 and Tiktin date the first record to 1588, in a document printed in Hasdeu's Cuvente den bătrâni.^[3][4][7] The sense there is already “blue”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Romanian also uses the colour for sadness: cântece de inimă albastră are melancholy love songs, and Tiktin thinks blue was once a colour of mourning.^[7][4] Sânge albastru “blue blood” means noble birth.^[10]

The plural albastre once meant townspeople's clothes, and albăstrân “dressed like a townsman” is recorded in 1885.^[7][3] Ciorănescu ties the old sense of albăstrime “the nobility” to albăstreală “laundry blue”, the people in starched shirts.^[2]

Timeline

• 1588 – first record, in a document in Hasdeu's Cuvente den bătrâni.^[3][4][7]
• second half of the 18th century – albăstrime.^[3]
• 1828 – albăstreală.^[3]
• about 1830 – albăstri “to make blue” in the Văcărescu poets.^[3]
• 1838 – albăstriu “bluish”.^[3]
• 1839 – albăstrea “cornflower” in Asachi, and albăstrui “bluish”.^[3]
• 1866 – înălbăstri in Alecsandri.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. blue: of the colour of a clear sky.^[10][4][1]
2. (figurative) melancholy, sad, gloomy;^[10][4] inimă albastră “sorrow”.^[10][4]
3. (familiar) Bad, awkward: e cam albastru “things look rather bad”.^[10]

Noun

1. The colour blue, between green and indigo in the spectrum.^[10]

Word family

• albăstrea
• albăstreală
• albăstrel
• albăstri
• albăstrime
• albăstriță
• albăstriu
• albăstrui
• înălbăstri

Related words

• alb
• Aromanian albastru
• Latin albus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. albastru
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. albastru
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 34
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 319
6. ^ a b c 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. albastru
7. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. albastru
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 80
9. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 31
10. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 25