arător

Forms

arător m or n (feminine singular arătoare, masculine plural arători, feminine/neuter plural arătoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin arātōrius (“used for ploughing”), as DELR, Candrea and Densusianu and the DLRM give it, and for the noun inherited from Latin arātor (“ploughman”), as Ciorănescu, the REW and Wiktionary have it.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Ciorănescu notes that the two Latin words gave the same Romanian form and merged.^[4] Both are from arō (“to plough”), the source of ara.^[1][2]

The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian arãtor (“ploughman”), which Papahagi takes from the Latin adjective.^[6][2] The noun has Romance cognates in Italian aratore, Catalan arador, Spanish arador and Portuguese arador, and the adjective survived in Old Italian, Old French and Old Portuguese.^[4][5][2]

DEX, MDA2 and Tiktin treat it instead as a Romanian formation, from Romanian ara + -ător.^[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582, Genesis 23:11, of land: Tiktin gives the phrases pământ arător and loc arător “arable land”.^[9][2] MDA2 cites the Latin–Romanian glossary of the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, about 1650.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used of land fit for ploughing and of the oxen that pull the plough: boi arători “plough oxen”.^[10][11] The noun “ploughman” is rare.^[8][1] In the sense “arable” it has become rare, beside the French loan arabil, recorded from 1848.^[7][2] A Maramureș charter printed in 1900 still has pământe arătoare “arable plots”.^[12]

Timeline

• 1582 – in the Palia de la Orăștie, the first record.^[2][9]
• c. 1650 – in the glossary of the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[8]
• 1848 – the French loan arabil “arable” is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (rare, of land) arable, fit for ploughing: loc arător “arable land”.^[7][8]
2. (of cattle) Used for ploughing.^[7]

Noun

1. (rare) A ploughman.^[8][1]

Related words

• ara
• arătură
• arabil
• Aromanian arãtor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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” (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. ara
3. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 39
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. arător
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 600
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 133
7. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 58
8. ^ 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. 1, 88
9. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. arătór
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. arător
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 116
12. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. arătór