altar

Forms

altar n (plural altare)^[1] The old form is altariu: „și cungiuraiu altariul tău, Doamne” “and I go round your altar, Lord” (Psaltirea Scheiană, Psalm 25).^[2][3] Coresi, Varlaam and Dosoftei often use altariu and oltariu side by side.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin altārium, or of its by-form altāre, a pan-Romance word.^{[4][5][6][7][1]} Classical Latin used the plural altāria for the top of the altar where the offerings were burnt;^[4] DELR relates it, probably, to adoleō (“to honour the gods with burnt offerings”).^[4] The first edition of Tiktin had taken the word for a neologism.^[4]

The word is found in Megleno-Romanian altar and Istro-Romanian altor.^[5][8] Cognates include Italian altare, Spanish altar and Portuguese altar.^[5][9]

Old Romanian also had the doublet oltar, from Old Church Slavonic олътарь (olŭtarĭ).^[5][2] Vasmer thinks the Slavonic word came from Latin through Old High German altāri.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is altariu in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, of about 1500–1520: the part of the church where the liturgy is held.^[4] The Psaltirea Scheiană, of about 1573–1578, has the same form.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The church sense came first.^[4] Later senses are the altar table of the liturgy, the sacrificial altar of antiquity, and by extension the church, religion and the church wedding.^[6][7] The phrase pe altarul patriei “on the altar of the fatherland” means sacrificing oneself for one's country.^[7] A technical sense is the fireproof wall behind a furnace that guides the flame.^[7] The diminutive altăraș is recorded from 1904.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – altariu in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[4]
• c. 1573–1578 – altariul in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[6][2]
• 1570 – altarele in Coresi's psalter (Psalm 83).^[12]
• 1904 – the diminutive altăraș.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The sanctuary of a church, separated from the nave by the catapeteasmă (iconostasis), where the liturgy is celebrated.^[7][6][1]
2. The altar table on which the liturgy is celebrated.^[7][1]
3. An altar of earth, stone or wood on which sacrifices were offered to the gods in antiquity.^[7][6]
4. (figurative) The church; religion; a church wedding.^[6]
5. (technology) A fireproof wall behind a furnace that directs the flame.^[7]

Word family

• altăraș

Related words

• oltar

Usage notes

MDA2 records a separate regional altar from the Apuseni Mountains, a chest for keeping papers and money, of unknown origin.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. altar
3. ^ 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. altar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. altar
5. ^ a b c d 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. altar
6. ^ 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. 1, 45
7. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 31
8. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 11
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 381
10. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress
11. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 4, 864
12. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 83:4