arcar

Forms

arcar m (plural arcari)^[1] An old variant arcariu is used in a deed in the Uricariul: „Cârstii Lateș, arcariul” “to Cârstea Lateș, the bow-maker”.^[2][3]

Etymology

MDA2 and Tiktin derive it from Romanian arc + -ar, with the agent suffix.^[3][4][1] The DA, Candrea and Densusianu, and Cihac take it instead from Latin arcuārius (“bow-maker”), the DA adding that Romanians may also have formed it themselves.^[2][5][6] DELR gives both views, the Latin word first, and Wiktionary mentions a Vulgar Latin *arcārius, an altered form of the Latin word.^[7][1] The REW lists the Romanian word among the derivatives of arcus (“bow”).^[8]

The Romance words of the same formation mostly mean “archer”: French archer, Occitan arquier, Catalan arquer, Spanish arquero and Portuguese archeiro.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of about 1690 from the time of Constantin Cantemir, published by Iorga, which places the bow-makers on the old bridge: „Pe podul vechiu, unde șed arcarii” “on the old bridge, where the bow-makers sit”.^[7][4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word named a craftsman who made bows, as Hasdeu distinguishes him from the arcaș who carried one.^[9] Nicolae Muste's chronicle tells how so many men enlisted under Dimitrie Cantemir that they could no longer buy weapons, „că și arcarii sfârșise arcele” “for even the bow-makers had run out of bows”.^[2][9] MDA2 and the DA add the seller of bows, and the word went out of use with the weapon.^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1690 – arcarii “the bow-makers” in a document published by Iorga.^[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) A bowyer, a craftsman who made bows.^[3][2][1]
2. (obsolete) A seller of bows.^[3][2][10]

Related words

• arc
• arcaș

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. arcar
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 90
4. ^ 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. arcar
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
6. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 15
7. ^ a b c 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. arc
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 618
9. ^ a b Hasdeu, B. P. (1886–1898), Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae: dicționarul limbei istorice și poporane a românilor, 4 vols. (A–Bărbat), București: Socec, p. s.v. arcar
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 118