arțar

Forms

arțar m (plural arțari)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] DELR's first explanation is inherited from Vulgar Latin *arceārium, formed on *arce, a metathesis of *acre, itself a by-form of Latin acer (“maple”); it cites Burlă, Hasdeu and Pușcariu for it.^[2] A metathesis of *acerārium or *acreārium would give the same result.^[2] Spanish arce has been cited in support of it, but DELR notes it may be a later Spanish form, and the REW supports the form without metathesis with Lombard dialect forms.^[2][5] The REW lists the Romanian word among the derivatives of the Latin tree name.^[5] DLRM and NODEX give the same Latin base.^[6][7]

Ciorănescu also starts from the same Latin derivative, but he relates it less to the tree's name than to arcus (“bow”), since bows were usually made of this wood; he compares the tree's other Romanian name, brâglar, from brâglă “pole”.^[3] Pușcariu held the same view in his etymological dictionary.^[2] Ciorănescu reports that Burlă's derivation from the tree name, taken up by Körting, was rejected by Densusianu and Graur.^[3] Tiktin suggests a Latin phrase of the tree name with arbor (“tree”), as for French érable.^[8]

Other proposals are a substrate word related to the Latin and German names of the maple (Ivănescu), and Boerescu's *ēriciārius, from ēricius (“hedgehog”), after the spiky leaves or a spiked beam made of the wood.^[2] The DA calls the origin unknown, though formally it matches a type *arciarium, like Sicilian azzaru.^[9] DEX and MDA2 leave it unexplained, and Wiktionary allows a substrate word but prefers the Latin one.^[4][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form arčariu, used as a common noun in a Slavonic–Romanian document of 1579.^[2][8] MDA2 dates the word only from the DA of 1913.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The name covers several maples: the Norway maple, and regionally the field maple, the box elder, the Tatar maple and the sycamore maple; in places it even names the locust tree.^[10][9] Its hard white wood was used for planes and for the handles of axes and hoes, as a report from Galați in Hasdeu's dictionary says.^[9][11]

In the Banat and Mehedinți the word also names the bar of maple wood on the loom that holds the heddle frames.^[9][12] Tiktin treats this loom bar separately and derives it from ițe with the suffix -ar, calling the link with the tree a folk etymology.^[13] The variant arcer means “whetstone” today;^[3] Ciorănescu explains that the stone was first a piece of maple wood hardened by soaking in water, but not all scholars accept that the two words are one.^[3]

Timeline

• 1579 – arčariu, in a Slavonic–Romanian document.^[2][8]
• c. 1873 – the diminutive arțăraș.^[2]
• 1885 – the loom bar, in Hasdeu's dictionary.^[13]
• 1888 – the diminutive arțărel.^[2]
• 1967 – arțar-platan, a hybrid of maple and plane, in the press.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Norway maple (Acer platanoides), a tree with hard white wood, opposite leaves and winged fruit, related to the paltin.^[4][10][1]
2. (regional) Other maples: the field maple (jugastru), the box elder, the Tatar maple (gladiș) and the sycamore maple.^[10]
3. (regional) The locust tree (salcâm).^[10]
4. (regional) The thin bar across the front of a loom that carries the heddle frames.^[10][9]

Word family

• arțăraș
• arțărel

Related words

• paltin
• jugastru
• Latin acer

Usage notes

A separate arțar, a neuter noun of the Banat, means a small shepherd's hut roofed with bark and fir branches;^[15][9] DELR records it from 1887 and calls its origin uncertain, perhaps a form of arete.^[15][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. arțar
3. ^ 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. arțar
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 65
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 91
6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 46
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. arțar
8. ^ 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. arțar
9. ^ a b c d e f g 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. arțar
10. ^ 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, 105
11. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 126
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 37
13. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. arțar 2
14. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. arțar
15. ^ a b 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. arțar 2